Two German regions faced with possible return of lockdowns

After measures were eased earlier in the week, German authorities have observed a steady increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases

Alongside the overall easing of coronavirus lockdown measures in Germany put forward earlier this week, federal authorities in the country also introduced stipulations that allow for state and regional officials to modify the recommendations to better suit their specific needs. Furthermore, a soft “cap” of new confirmed cases was also introduced – aimed to signify a point which if exceeded, would force governments to roll back the easing of restrictions and again begin enforcing a full lockdown. Said cap is measured at 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week.

Two regions at risk

As of today, two regions are facing the prospects of being forced to revert to full lockdown. Said areas are the Greiz district in Eastern Thuringia (84.6 cases per 100,000) and the independent city of Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria (52.1 cases per 100,000).

Both these places have also been among the hardest hit in Germany earlier in April, prior to the lifting of lockdown restrictions. Yet thanks to the overall relaxation of quarantine rules, state authorities are now able to use more precise measures in order to solve their problems – rather than relying on catch-all approaches.

Currently, as per the latest data, the situation in Greiz has been contained and the region’s government will not move forward with the reimposition of measures, but that could change should the situation get out of hand.

Overall, however, most areas in Germany have recorded far smaller increases in infections, with most of them averaging some 25 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past week. One of the cities coping the best with these new circumstances has been Hamburg, where barely 173 cases were registered over the past week – while it needs 900 weekly cases in order to supersede the 50 per 100,000 threshold.