Germany faces lockdown until June

Chancellor Angela Merkel urges the country's citizens to stick to tougher rules imposed in areas with high infection rates.

Germany’s coronavirus infection rate rose at the weekend despite stricter restrictions and the Berlin government has said it does not expect to relax curbs before the end of May.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper: “We need a timetable how to get back to normal life, but it must be a plan that won’t have to be revoked after just a few days.”

The government should be able to outline “clear and courageous opening steps” for the summer by the end of May, allowing restaurants to adjust reopening plans and citizens to plan holidays, he said.

It came after Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to stick to tougher rules imposed in areas with high infection rates, saying measures imposed at the weekend were needed to break a third wave of infections.

Germany is struggling to contain infections, complicated by a more contagious variant that first emerged in Britain.

It also follows a relatively slow start to Germany’s vaccination campaign.

Germany’s seven-day average of cases per 100,000 people rose to 166 at the weekend.

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