Germany tightens Covid restrictions before New Year to curb Omicron threat

Germany introduced tighter restrictions nationwide for vaccinated and recovered people in a bid to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Germany announced the Covid restrictions on Tuesday. Private gatherings of vaccinated and recovered people are limited to 10 people while unvaccinated people can get together with up to two other external people per household. Children under the age of 14 years are excluded from these curbs.

New Year's Eve gatherings and the sale of fireworks during the last days of the year will be banned nationwide, Xinhua news agency reported.

The number of confirmed Omicron variant infections in Germany increased by 45 per cent within one day, bringing the cumulative number to 10,443, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said on Tuesday.

Most of the country's laboratory-confirmed Omicron cases were in the 15 to 34 years age group, followed by 35 to 59-years-old, according to the RKI.

"The goal is to vaccinate in time and quickly so that we keep the coming Omicron wave at bay as much as possible and then build up sufficient protection in the population," a spokesperson of the Ministry of Health said on Monday.

--IANS

int/khz/