Growing number of German cities clamping down as infections rise
By Marc Herwig, Tabea Huser and Mona Wenisch
DUSSELDORF – The list of German cities introducing restrictions after breaching a key limit for coronavirus infections grew on Sunday (11), while partygoers continued to defy the rules.
The mayors of Germany’s 11 biggest cities agreed with Chancellor Angela Merkel this week to clamp down if the number of cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period exceeds 50.
That number has ticked up to 57.3 in the western city of Essen, according to the health authority in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state.
The region is also home to Cologne, which on Saturday (10) joined the list of cities – including the capital Berlin – that have been prompted to bring back restrictions.
Anticipating the further rise in cases, Essen – a city of 600,000 – presented a package of measures on Friday (9) that would come into effect once infections passed the 50-mark. These include reducing the number of people allowed to meet for private celebrations from 50 to 25, while mask rules have been extended to cover all public buildings, among other things.
Unlike Berlin and Cologne, Essen has refrained from introducing a night-time curfew.
Restrictions started this weekend on the German capital’s famous nightlife, with sales of alcohol banned between the hours of 11 pm and 6 am, while tougher limits were imposed on outdoor gatherings and private parties.
Nightlife in larger cities has become one of the key drivers of rising infection numbers. Merkel on Friday appealed to young people to stick to the rules and refrain from partying beyond curfews.
Early on Sunday, police shut down parties in the cities of Munich and Trier that violated coronavirus rules.
In Munich, police received a call that 100 to 150 people were attending an illegal rave at a former slaughterhouse, though only 25 people were there when officers arrived. The partygoers are facing charges for not wearing masks or keeping the required distance.
More than 100 youths partied in Trier “in defiance of any precautionary measure” at a private venue, police said. Some of the party guests, who came mostly from neighbouring Luxembourg, fled to a nearby forest when officers arrived to shut down the event.
Police recorded the details of at least 70 teenagers and young adults and confiscated the speakers at what appeared to be a commercial event, according to the statement.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Sunday recorded 3,483 new coronavirus infections and 11 deaths related to the virus, for a total of 322,864 cases and 9,615 fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic.
-dpa