Guetersloh county in Germany’s most populous state has been put into lock-down after a Covid-19 outbreak at a slaughterhouse.
More than 1,500 people from the Toennies slaughterhouse tested positive for COVID-19.
This re-confinement, scheduled to last until 30 June, will result in the strict limitation of contact between people, the closure of bars, cinemas and museums, and a ban on leisure activities in closed areas. Restaurants will be allowed to remain open but will only welcome customers from the same household.
Schools and child care centers were closed last week as a result of the initial outbreak.
Armin Laschet, the governor of the North Rhine-Westphalia region, which contains Cologne and Dusseldorf, said that residents in Guetersloh county should only have contact with their own household, or one person from outside.
“We are going to reintroduce confinement throughout the canton of Guetersloh, which has around 360,000 inhabitants,” Laschet told the press.
This lock-down comes after the county’s “R number” increased to 2.88, which was understood to mean that the virus could be be spreading exponentially.
Germany has been praised for its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It implemented testing, tracing and hospital preparation measures.
