BERLIN, Feb 28, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Around 1,000 people were in quarantine in Germany’s most populous state Friday, as the number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in Europe’s biggest economy rose above 50.
The district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia said it had to take the
step of keeping around 1,000 home as an infected couple had participated in
carnival celebrations in mid-February.
Schools and kindergartens were also shut in the district until Monday as
the number of cases linked to the cluster reached 20.
In Hamburg, parents and children who were in contact with an infected
employee at a university clinic have also been ordered to stay home for 14
days.
With cases now detected across several further German states including
Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria, Health Minister Jens Spahn said this
week that Europe’s biggest country was “at the beginning of a coronavirus
epidemic”.
The government has ordered local authorities in the country’s 16 states to
update their pandemic readiness plans.
It also from Thursday began requiring travellers arriving from China, South
Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy to provide contact details in case their
movements had to be traced over possible infections.
Authorities are also poised to decide if international travel fair ITB is
to be cancelled days before its scheduled opening in Berlin.