BERLIN — Germany's coronavirus infection rate rose at the
weekend despite stricter restrictions and
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he
did not expect moves to ease curbs before the end of May.
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"We need a timetable how to get back to normal life,
but it must be a plan that won't have to be revoked after just a few
days," Scholz told Bild am Sonntag.
The federal government should be able to outline "clear
and courageous opening steps" for the summer by the end of May, allowing
restaurants to adjust reopening plans and citizens to plan holidays, he said.
Scholz said the steps would also clarify when visits to
concerts, theatres and soccer stadiums would be possible.
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday urged Germans to stick
to tougher rules imposed in areas with high infection rates, saying measures
imposed at the weekend were needed to break a third wave of infections.
Germany is struggling to contain infections, complicated by
the more contagious B117 variant that first emerged in Britain. It also follows
a relatively slow start to Germany's vaccination campaign.
Germany's seven-day average of cases per 100,000 people rose
to 166 at the weekend, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Sunday.
Parliament approved amendments to the Infection Protection
Act last week to give the federal government more powers in the pandemic.
Merkel drew up the changes after some of the 16 federal states refused to
implement tougher measures.
The new law enables the government to impose curfews between
10pm and 5am in districts where cases exceed 100 per 100,000 residents on
three consecutive days. The rules also include stricter limits to private
gatherings and shopping.
Schools will have to close and return to online lessons if
cases reach 165 per 100,000 residents on three consecutive days.
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