City to ban alcohol to prevent spreading of virus
The German city of Munich is considering to restrict the sale of alcoholic beverages and impose a partial ban on the consumption of alcohol in public. According to Munich s mayor, the ban will take effect when the number of coronavirus infections reaches 35 per 100,000 inhabitants. In the meantime, Bavarian Minister President Markus Soder has called for the implementation of a unified covid defence mechanism throughout Germany.
The city of Munich is considering to tighten the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages with measure to be introduced when the number of infected people per 100 thousand inhabitants reaches 35 for a period of one week. On MOnday, that figure was measured at 30.92 in the Bavarian capital, and has been on a steady rise for two weeks, the regional news portal Merkur.de reports.
In ganz München gilt künftig ein Alkoholverbot, wenn die Sieben-Tages-Inzidenz von 35 erreicht wird. Was das genau bedeutet und wie die Stadt das Verbot einhalten will – ein Überblick. https://t.co/OtiBjsYZdV
— SZ München (@SZ_Muenchen) August 25, 2020
Munich s Social Democratic Mayor Dieter Reiter said it was not an easy decision to make. „In a time of pandemic, however, the primary goal is to protect the population and avoid even more severe measures,” he said. A ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages would take effect from 9 pm, with police checking public consumption and handing out fines for violators after 11 pm.
In a bid to noticeably improve Bavaria s epidemic situation, Minister President Markus Soder has called for tougher fines and more consistent law enforcement efforts. Mr Soder spoke about this after attending a meeting of the Christian Democratic Coalition Committee on Tuesday night in Berlin, where he criticised the federal government for delays in designating at-risk areas, and for the inefficiency of a virus-tracking app commissioned by the government.
Koalitionsausschuss in Berlin: Wir verlängern die Maßnahmen, die es braucht, um die wirtschaftliche Herausforderung durch Corona zu bewältigen: Das Kurzarbeitergeld wird verlängert. Betriebe werden bei den Sozialversicherungsbeiträgen weiter entlastet. 1/2
— Markus Söder (@Markus_Soeder) August 25, 2020
Earlier, Markus Söder denounced a proposal to open the gates of football stadiums for spectators of the German Bundesliga starting from September, arguing that the move would send the completely wrong message to the public.
Of the German states, Bavaria is in second place in terms of the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic, with 55,767 registered Covid-19 infections as of Wednesday. The situation is only worse in North Rhine-Westphalia, where there are more than 57,500 registered coronavirus cases.