Germans must reduce travel, partying to fight COVID-19, says Merkel aide

Germany should continue capping the number of people allowed at gatherings and clamp down on unnecessary travel as the country battles rising coronavirus infections, an aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday.

“We must be a bit stricter in places where infection chains spread mostly, which is parties and, unfortunately, also travel,” the chancellor’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, told public broadcaster ARD.

“We are at the beginning of a second wave and only the politicians’ and the population’s determination will decide whether or not we can avoid it, or slow it down,” he added.

Germany had managed to keep the number of new infections and deaths lower than many of its neighbours but the daily number of new cases has leapt above 4,000 since Thursday, the highest since April.

Sunday’s count was below that but that is because test reports tend to be lower at weekends.

Merkel and mayors from Germany’s 11 largest cities agreed on Friday to adopt stricter measures if infections exceed a threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 population in a week.