Germany to extend coronavirus lockdown and social distancing to April 19

Chancellor Angela Merkel revealed the measures brought in to stop the spread of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic in Germany would last until after Easter. A tracking app to help tackle the spread is also being considered, Merkel said.

Following talks with the country’s 16 state governors, the chancellor committed to keeping the social distancing measures for another 14 days before they are reviewed. Just over a week ago, Europe’s biggest economy banned gatherings of more than two people to slow the spread of Covid-19.

And now it is simply “too soon” to talk about easing those measures and that Germany was far from achieving what it needed, according to Merkel.

The chancellor went on to say that if tracking apps would prove useful in helping authorities quell the crisis, which has already left over 40,000 people dead across the globe, she would recommend them and even be prepared to use them herself.

Such technology is being considered in several countries, including the UK and Russia.

“It’s clear that it would be on a voluntary basis but if the testing of these apps shows them to be good and set to be successful in better tracing cases of where there has been contact, I’d certainly be in favor of recommending that to citizens,” Merkel said.

“I would of course also be prepared to use it myself to perhaps help other people.”

The news comes a day after the country saw a jump of more than a thousand new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours.

Yesterday the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced the total number of cases had risen from 57,298 to 61,913, and the death toll had reached 583. Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and North Rhine-Westphalia are the worst hit areas of the country.