Germany reimposes local lockdowns after new coronavirus outbreaks
A municipal employee distributes goods to people who are under quaratine at their residence.
German authorities on Tuesday reimposed new lockdowns for two entire districts in Germany’s most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia since the country began lifting the lockdown in early May.
The first lockdown was announced earlier on Tuesday.
“For the first time in Germany, we will return an entire district to the measures that applied several weeks ago,” said state premier Armin Laschet.
The lockdown would affect 360,000 people in the district of Guetersloh, and would stay in place until at least June 30.
The new lockdown means a return to measures first introduced in March, with cinemas, museums, concert halls, bars, gyms, indoor swimming pools and saunas shut down, Laschet said.
Schools and kindergartens have also been closed ahead of school holidays which will start this weekend.
A picture taken on Monday shows a road sign bearing the name of the city of Guetersloh.
Just hours later, authorities placed a second district under lockdown.
“In order to protect the population, we are now launching a further safety and security package to effectively combat the spread of the virus,” state health minister Karl-Josef Laumann said.
The move came after a coronavirus outbreak at a slaughterhouse. More than 1,500 workers in a meat processing plant were confirmed to have contracted the virus over the weekend.
According to a previous report, the new outbreak brings Germany’s coronavirus reproduction rate (R-number) to 2.88 on Sunday, which shows infections are rising above the level needed to contain the disease over the longer term.
Read more: Germany’s R-number jumps, indicating rising contagion
