Correspondent in Berlin
Initially, the turn of the screw was scheduled for November 4.
It will finally take place earlier, from Monday, the day from which bars, restaurants, cultural institutions, tourist parks and German gymnasiums will be closed for a period of one month.
These are the main measures adopted on Wednesday after a meeting between Angela Merkel and the minister-presidents of the sixteen Länder, and valid throughout the country.
"Every day counts,"
insisted Berlin leader Michael Müller.
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Unlike the strict regime imposed in the spring, this second confinement will only be partial.
Tourist trips and business trips deemed to be dispensable will be prohibited.
On the other hand, schools, kindergartens and shops will remain open, provided that the businesses in question accommodate one person in 10 square meters.
These are measures
"muscular and severe",
admitted Angela Merkel, calling for a
"national effort"
.
They will be accompanied by an aid plan of around 10 billion euros for the companies concerned.
The announcement was made on the day a new all-time daily record of 15,000 infections was set, coupled with a skyrocketing death toll (85).
It comes especially after weeks of hesitation during which the Chancellor had appeared incapable, in this decentralized country of Germany, of imposing her views on the presidents of the regions.
Cacophony
Two weeks ago, in particular in the Länder of the former GDR where the virus circulates less quickly, some had denounced
the
alarmist
"hysteria"
prevailing according to them in the face of the pandemic.
Even in Bavaria, the Minister-President, Markus Söder, favorite in polls for the post of chancellor and considered to be a handyman in the management of the pandemic, had brutally renounced the introduction of a stay ban in his region.
This will only have lived for a few days… and will probably be reinstated.
Now we are united
Michael Müller, Mayor of Berlin
Even within the medical world, the discourse was cacophonous.
As a result, in Berlin, where the incidence rate is the highest in the country (145 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants), life had not changed, apart from the observation of the wearing of masks in stores.
At the request of furious restaurateurs, the administrative court of the capital had even quashed the city hall's decision to impose the closure of bars and restaurants between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
According to the judges, this measure was not likely to lead to a
"significant reduction in infection"
.
“Now we are united,”
Mayor Michael Müller said on Wednesday, speaking on behalf of the sixteen regions.
Unlike the first wave, public opinion is worried about a possible saturation of the country's hospital capacities.
Germany has nearly 30,000 intensive care beds, of which 8,000 are free and behind each of these beds, there is a shortage of personnel.
And the milestone of 20,000 daily contaminations is expected at the end of the week.
