The Government and the German States agree to a partial closure of public life due to the advance of the virus

German Chancellor Angela Merkel puts on the mask before the Council of Ministers held in Berlin this Wednesday.FILIP SINGER / POOL / EFE

Emergency summit to put a stop to the virus that is advancing without apparent brake, also in Germany.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the heads of Government of the federal states have negotiated drastic limitations on public life this Wednesday to short-circuit the exponential growth of infections, which have reached highs for more than a week.

Bars, cinemas, theaters, gyms and swimming pools will close, while restaurants will only be able to serve takeout.

Contacts will be reduced to a maximum of 10 people belonging to two family units.

The so-called second wave has arrived late in Germany, but it has hit hard.

In the last 24 hours, 14,964 positive cases of covid-19 and 85 deaths have been registered, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute.

"We must act now," said Merkel, who explained that the period in which infections double is shortened by days and that the number of patients in intensive care units has doubled in 10 days.

"You have to reduce the number of contacts," he added.

The health system has so far been able to cope with the infections, said the chancellor, but at the current rate it would soon end up overwhelmed if it does not act now.

Merkel reiterated that "the most important instrument is contact tracing", which in some parts of the country are on the verge of collapse.

Schools will remain open.

Stores too, limiting the number of people who can access them.

Tourist trips are suspended and hotels are open for essential stays, but not for tourism.

The agreed measures will come into force as of next Monday and will remain in force in principle throughout the month of November.

These are restrictions similar to those of last spring, during the so-called first wave, in which in Germany there was no total confinement at any time and a peak of just over 6,000 daily infections was then reached.

So Germany managed to contain the virus thanks in large part to contact tracing by municipal public health departments, now under heavy pressure.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Robert Koch Institute has reported 464,239 registered coronavirus cases and 10,183 deaths.

In recent weeks, the map of the country in which the areas with a high incidence of contagions are marked has been staining red at a dizzying speed.

The telematic meeting, which was initially scheduled for Friday, but was brought forward due to the seriousness of the situation, started at one in the afternoon.

Four and a half hours later, Merkel appeared to present the result of the deliberations between the federal government and the 16

, with executives of different political color and sensitivity regarding the measures to be adopted.

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