Germany is heading for a major new nationwide lockdown to stem the rapid spread of the coronavirus after health experts said that to wait until after Christmas to wind the country down could cost tens of thousands of lives and overwhelm hospitals.
The country recorded almost 23,000 new cases on Wednesday morning, and 598 deaths, both rates higher than at any time since the start of the pandemic.
Leading politicians urged the government to act immediately to instigate what some media were calling a “blitz lockdown”.
Markus Söder, leader of the southern state of Bavaria, where cases have risen sharply in the past few days, said on Friday morning: “We have to act as soon as possible.” He said that every day counted, tweeting: “Why hesitate, when we know that it’s necessary? Which is why we need to push everything forward and act decisively. We need to wind everything down before Christmas.”
He called for a nationwide approach, including curfews, the closure of non-essential shops, and an extension of school and kindergarten holidays.
On 2 November Germany entered a “soft lockdown”, with rules tightened on gatherings and bars and restaurants closed, but shops and schools remained open.
Quick guide Covid at Christmas: how do rules vary across Europe?
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France reopened non-essential shops this month, allowing Christmas shopping to begin. But an uptick in new infections since then means that while travel is permitted from 15 December, a nationwide 8pm to 7am curfew will begin then that will be lifted for 24 December, but not Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve. Bars and restaurants will not reopen until January and private gatherings are limited to six adults.
Germany extended its “lockdown lite” until early January, but amid a record surge in infections and deaths may have to shut down further before Christmas – possibly allowing people to leave home only for essential reasons and closing shops from 21 December. Private meetings are currently limited to five, a limit that should be raised to 10 from between 23 December and 1 January, but this may change.
Austria’s strict lockdown ends this month. The country is carrying out a mass programme of 10 million tests over the next fortnight with the aim of allowing more families to reunite over the festive period. Christmas markets have been cancelled.
Italy has banned inter-regional travel from 20 December to 6 January except for work, health or emergency reasons, and Italians may not leave their towns on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day. Midnight mass on 24 December will be brought forward so worshippers can get home before the country’s 10pm-5am curfew, and people arriving from EU countries must present a negative test.
Spain has appealed for people to be responsible but will allow movement between regions “for family reasons” between 23 December and 6 January. Regional curfews, which range from 10pm to midnight, will be pushed back to 1.30am on 24 and 31 December, when the limit for gatherings will be raised from six to 10, a measure that will also apply on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Authorities in the Netherlands have said current restrictions will not be relaxed for Christmas and may yet be strengthened if infections rise. Guests for Christmas dinner will be limited to three (excluding under-13s); cafes, bars and restaurants will remain shut except for takeaways; non-essential shops must close at 8pm and all non-essential travel is discouraged.
Belgium has said households may be in close contact with just one extra person over the Christmas period, although people living on their own will be allowed to meet two others. Fireworks are to be banned on New Year’s Eve to limit gatherings.
Poland will allow people to spend Christmas only with their immediate family, with no more than five guests to be invited to each household until at least 27 December and travel banned outside people’s home towns.
John Henley Europe correspondent
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Germans had been expecting a relaxation of restrictions from 23 December, which was to have allowed private gatherings of up to 10 individuals – though not counting children under 14 – from two different households, until 1 January.
People were being discouraged from making nonessential journeys but were not banned from travelling. They were urged to quarantine for a week before any celebrations, particularly those involving elderly people.
But those rules are now widely expected to be overwritten this weekend.
The health minister, Jens Spahn, said: “It’s clear that we need additional measures, and rather sooner than later. We cannot allow this to be a festival for the virus. The virus doesn’t care whether or not we’ve bought our Christmas presents.”
Appealing to Germans to show solidarity towards each other, he said: “The ‘us’ has to be more important than the ‘I’, and that means making a sacrifice.”
The federal government and the leaders of the 16 states are to meet on Sunday to decide on the next set of emergency measures. But many decision-makers were urging the government to act more quickly.
Daniel Günther, head of the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, said it was “irresponsible to wait another day”. He said Germany faced “an unbelievably difficult time until Easter”.
On Thursday, Berlin’s mayor, Michael Müller, said he wanted the capital to shut its shops and to coordinate with neighbouring Brandenburg, but a decision is not due until Tuesday.
In an emotional speech to the state parliament, he asked: “How many deaths is a candlelit dinner worth? … How many deaths is a shopping spree worth?” as he sought support for a lockdown before Christmas, which he said was necessary to save lives.
Earlier the interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said it would be a mistake to wait until after Christmas to tighten restrictions. “The only chance for us to take control of the situation again is a lockdown that kicks in immediately,” he told Der Spiegel. To do otherwise would leave Germany tackling an exponential rise in cases over months, he added.
Seehofer said he was “furious” that Germany had “thrown away the advantage it had fought for” early on in the pandemic, blaming not a lack of discipline by citizens, but “insufficient measures taken”.
On Wednesday, the chancellor, Angela Merkel, delivered an unusually expressive appeal, her voice breaking as she urged people to stay at home over Christmas, or risk not seeing their grandparents again.
Merkel has repeatedly called for a nationwide approach to tackling the coronavirus but most of the decisions have been made on a state basis, and have appeared ad hoc and confusing.
Bavaria introduced stricter rules on Wednesday including a night-time curfew in hotspots and a ban on alcohol sales in inner cities.
The state of Baden-Württemberg has introduced a curfew to start on Saturday, with people allowed out to go to work or for essential visits to the shops or doctor.
From Monday in Saxony, schools, kindergartens and non-essential shops will be closed. Politicians urged Saxonians not to travel to neighbouring Brandenburg, where shops remain open.
The German Society of Surgeons has warned of the consequences of overburdened hospitals on non-coronavirus patients. Currently 4,000 intensive care beds in Germany are occupied with Covid-19 cases, a third more than at the high point of the pandemic during the first wave.
Prof Thomas Schmitz-Rixen, vice-president of the German Society for Surgeons, told the broadcaster Deutschlandfunk: “The situation in the hospitals is getting increasingly tense.”
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