From Good Friday (April 2nd), Hamburg residents are being ordered to stay at home between 9pm and 5am unless they have a valid reason to be outside, reported Spiegel.

It means shops also have to close from 9pm. Delivery services, however, are still allowed to deliver food after that time. Jogging outside will still be possible, and commuting to work is also allowed.

However, Mayor Peter Tschentscher said on Wednesday that all unnecessary journeys must be avoided.

People who are out on the streets in the evening after 9pm may be approached by police, said interior senator Andy Grote. There will be an increased police presence over Easter.

Officers will deal with this “drastic measure in a proportionate manner”, Tschentscher said.

The new measure, in response to increasing coronavirus numbers, will be in effect initially until April 18th.

Hamburg’s 7-day incidence climbed from 153.7 to 163.7 per 100,000 people on Wednesday.

The number of coronavirus infections increased by 590 cases within a day, according to the health authority on Wednesday. This is the largest single-day increase since January 5th.

READ ALSO: German health experts call for strict lockdown to quell Covid-19 cases

Compulsory testing for pupils and teachers

Daycare centres in the city will be shut except for emergency care after Easter, Tschentscher added.

At schools, in-person classes are to be maintained in part, but compulsory testing is to apply to pupils and teachers.

In workplaces, the obligation to wear a mask will be tightened. As soon as more than one person is working in a room, medical masks must be worn at all times. 

Tschentscher appealed to companies to carry out rapid tests on their employees.

Curfews agreed by federal and state ministers

Chancellor Angela Merkel and state premiers agreed on March 22nd that curfews could be imposed in areas with a 7-day incidence of more than 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants. 

Several parts of Germany have introduced curfews in a bid to control the virus at different stages of the pandemic and to contain local outbreaks.

On Tuesday, Brandenburg decided that a curfew would apply in districts with an incidence rate of more than 100. In Mainz, the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate, a night-time curfew will apply from Thursday.

At the beginning of February, the Mannheim Administrative Court overturned a state-wide curfew in Baden-Württemberg.

READ ALSO: Germany’s coronavirus incidence rate more than doubles in four weeks

Vocabulary

Curfew – (die) Ausgangssperre

Good Friday – (der) Karfreitag

In the street – auf der Straße

Testing obligation – die Testpflicht

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