Coronavirus: Germany warned of ‘uncontrolled’ spread as Europe battles new outbreaks
- Germany’s top disease control official warns country could see infection rates soar to 10,000 new cases a day
- Europe has registered more than six million confirmed cases since the virus first appeared in the region in January
France, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic posted significant increases in coronavirus cases, underscoring growing alarm in Europe as it struggles to control the pandemic.
German’s Health Minister Jens Spahn on Thursday said the latest one-day rise in infections recorded in the country – soaring past 4,000 for the first time since early April – was “alarming”. That brought the total to 311,137.
Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for disease control, warned the country could see an uncontrollable spread of the virus.
“We do not know how the situation in Germany will develop in the coming weeks. It is possible that we see 10,000 new cases a day,” Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute, said. “It is possible that the virus spreads uncontrolled.”
With Europe topping six million coronavirus cases and almost 240,000 deaths, politicians at the national level are leaning on local authorities to take the lead in limiting late-night activity in cities and towns, as they fear the economic impact of more wide-ranging measures. That’s led to more severe restrictions in several European cities.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron’s government ordered bars in Paris to close for a two-week period and said more curbs would be announced. The Czech Republic was considering additional steps to prevent the disease from spreading.