BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases recommended on Tuesday that “maximum contact restrictions” should be imposed, starting at once, to fight a looming tide of infections caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Among the body’s other recommendations, which applied through mid-January 2022, were restricting travel only to what was absolutely necessary, accelerating the vaccination campaign and ensuring that enough free coronavirus tests were available.
Federal and state leaders were due to meet later on Tuesday to decide on new measures, which were likely to include contact restrictions even for the vaccinated and those who have recovered from an infection, but a nationwide lockdown seemed to be off the agenda.
The RKI reported 23,428 new infections on Tuesday, and 462 deaths, taking Germany’s total to 108,814.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
