Photo Credit: BBC
Germany could see 100,000 infections a day if the third wave of coronavirus spreads unchecked, the head of the RKI public health institute has warned.
Random checks and compulsory tests will be enforced on the border with France, says the French foreign minister, because “the pandemic in Germany is exploding faster than they thought”.
Negative tests will also be required for airport arrivals from Tuesday.
Officials fear the third wave could be harder to curb than the first two.
With infections running at more than 20,000 a day, Health Minister Jens Spahn warned: “If this continues unchecked we run the risk of our health system hitting breaking point in April.”
Germany is among a number of European countries where Covid infections have been rising fast this week. Cases are also up in Poland by 35%, and health officials in both countries say the spread of the UK(Kent) variant is behind the surge.
‘No taboo’ for French measures
France has also seen a big increase in cases, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said it will be classed as a high-risk zone. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told national radio it would mean that on the German border “random checks would be more reinforced than now, with compulsory tests and quarantine recommended”.
Nineteen areas of France have been placed under lockdown and more than 4,700 people are now being treated in intensive care. The greater Paris region is one of the worst affected areas with almost 600 cases per 100,000 people. The average French incidence rate in the past week is above 200 cases, while in Germany it is 119 per 100,000 people.
President Emmanuel Macron said late on Thursday night there would be “no taboo” as far as further measures were concerned.
Europe’s Covid vaccine drive has started slowly, partly because of delivery delays. France will start vaccinating people aged 70-75 from Saturday.
In Germany about 10% of adults have now had a first dose of vaccine (with 14 doses per 100 people), well below UK levels. The German health minister said his country was in the final stages of a “pandemic marathon” but it would take some time before the goal could be reached. He appealed to Germans not to travel over Easter and minimise their contacts with other people.
