German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that Germans can now be fined for violating COVID-19 precautions as cases in the country continue to surge, the Hill reports.
What We Know:
- Merkel referenced German coronavirus statistics, saying the number of cases in the country has doubled over the last three weeks. Merkel added, when referencing the fines, that the case risings “should not continue and we need to contain it”. The new restrictions allow German officials to fine citizens for not taking proper sanitation and social distancing precautions.
- Germany’s move comes as other European countries begin reinstating their COVID-19 regulations as new cases emerge across the EU. Spain and Italy, for example, have re-closed their nightclubs. Germany is requiring anyone traveling back from a high-risk country to quarantine for two weeks or show a negative test result.
- “More mobility and contact between people leads to higher numbers of cases,” Merkel said. “The virus is here, even if it’s not visible. There’s no vaccine and no medication.” Germany has seen 1,693 new cases in the past day, the highest since the primary outbreak in the spring.
- Merkel was optimistic, believing that if Germany “can manage this, the good news is that there is a lot of public life that we can allow to happen”.
Germany’s call for fines comes as other nations around the world, including the United States, grapple with a second wave of COVID-19.
