BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to bring together leaders of the Länder this Friday to define new measures aimed at tackling the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, including a tightening of restrictions on bars and restaurants.
In order to support the COVID-19 vaccine booster campaign, local and federal authorities are considering asking people who have only received two injections to present a recent negative screening test in order to be able to access bars and restaurants.
The catering sector is “problematic, as people often sit for hours without wearing a mask,” Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said in an interview with RTL Direkt on Thursday.
Hendrik Wüst, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous Land in Germany, judged in an interview with the daily Die Welt that a tightening of the rules in catering establishments appeared reasonable since the proximity of unmasked people requires maximum protection and that the vaccination booster campaign allows everyone to benefit from this new dose.
At the same time, the isolation rules should be lightened – like what has already been decided in France – in order to avoid having too many people forced into isolation at the same time, in particular in the sectors of essential activity.
According to the latest official data released by the Robert Koch Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is now responsible for 44% of new infections in Germany, where 41.6% of the population has benefited from a vaccination booster.
The president of the German federation of the hotel and catering sector, Guido Zöllick, called on the government to provide financial support to companies in the sector, already weakened by the measures in force.
(Report Miranda Murray, French version Myriam Rivet, edited by Bertrand Boucey)
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