Berlin-SANA
German companies warned today that extending general isolation measures due to the outbreak of the Corona virus and closing stores during Easter may push more companies into bankruptcy and lead to counter-productive results by encouraging people to flock to stores in advance.
Reuters quoted Stefan Gent, head of the Retail Federation (HDE), as saying that 54 percent of fashion stores face the risk of bankruptcy after 100 days of closure .. and one year after the outbreak of the virus, the situation for many retailers is desperate and there is no longer any What hope of escaping this crisis economically.
After talks that continued until the early hours of this morning, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that her government will extend the general isolation measures until the 18th of next April and called on citizens to stay in their homes and reduce mixing as much as possible for a period of five days, starting from the first of next month.
The union said the decision to close supermarkets on Thursday before Easter would be counter-productive as it would mean that stores would be overcrowded on Wednesday and Saturday.
The German Automobile Trade Association (ZDK) also attacked the extension and tightening of the general isolation measures. "Politicians should not shut down our country anymore," said Juergen Karpinski, president of the association, to the Funk Media Group newspapers, warning of a wave of bankruptcy.
He added, "If the car dealerships are practically not contributing anything to the infection, how is closing their business supposed to help contain the virus?"
The number of Coronavirus infections in Germany has so far reached two million and 678,262 cases, and deaths have reached 75,418 cases.