BERLIN (NYTIMES) - With winter looming, German health officials and experts have raised concerns about a new surge of coronavirus cases.
Cases in Germany - about 12,775 daily on average - have increased by 57 per cent in the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database. Deaths on average in the same period have increased by 11 per cent.
The surge comes as many European countries have slowly lifted lockdowns after months of restrictions driven by Delta and other virus variants.
A national state of emergency is in place in Germany - which allows the government to unilaterally impose restrictions on states - but it is set to expire Nov 25. The order can be extended by a parliamentary vote, and some state officials are advocating that lawmakers do so.
German health minister Jens Spahn, though, noted the country's high vaccination rate and said the emergency order could be lifted while other rules are put in place, like mask mandates and proof of vaccination. About 70 per cent of the population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Pandemic restrictions in Germany are set individually by the country's 16 states, and in general, masks are required on public transportation and in stores. Since August, visitors to Germany have had to show proof of vaccination, recovery from infection or a recent negative test for entry to indoor public spaces, like restaurants, salons and gyms. Clubs in Berlin, famed for its hedonistic nightlife, reopened last month for the first time in over a year.
Cases are also resurging in Britain, where the government lifted virtually all restrictions in July, arguing that a rapid vaccination roll-out had helped mitigate rates of hospitalisations and deaths. In June, the country reported as few as 2,000 cases a day, but last week, it reported an average of 47,209 new cases a day, a 30 per cent increase over the average two weeks ago.
The British government has rejected calls for an immediate reintroduction of some coronavirus restrictions, but it has also said that rules could be put back in place if a vaccine booster programme does little to stop the spread.
