Germany reimposes local lockdown after regional coronavirus outbreak

The governor of Germany’s most populous state on Tuesday announced lockdown measures in a county that has seen a large increase in Covid-19 cases linked to a slaughterhouse.

Armin Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state, said Tuesday that people in Guetersloh county should only have contact with their own household or one person from outside.

Laschet said cinemas, fitness studios and bars will be closed, although restaurants can continue to cater to people from the same household.

More than 1,500 people have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Toennies slaughterhouse in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck and thousands have been put under a quarantine to try to halt the outbreak.

Although its management of the Covid-19 crisis has been among the most successful in Europe, Germany has seen repeated outbreaks in slaughterhouses, whose employees are often migrants living in crowded company-provided accommodation.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had favored maintaining lockdown discipline for longer, but Germany eventually eased restrictions following pressure from regional premiers.

Many parts of the world, including Latin America and South Asia, are only beginning to feel the full force of the pandemic, while other regions that were thought to have curtailed the virus are being hit with second waves. China, Germany, South Korea and Japan are all battling new outbreaks, with some also reintroducing containment measures.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)