BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel will on Monday push for tougher curbs including masks in all schools, smaller class sizes and drastic limits on contacts to bring down coronavirus infections in Germany.
Outside work or school, contact between people should also be “restricted to those from another fixed household,” according to a proposal by Merkel’s office and which would be put to regional leaders of Germany’s 16 states later Monday.
Europe’s biggest economy began a new round of shutdowns in November, closing restaurants, cultural venues and leisure facilities to curb transmission of COVID-19.
But while new cases are plateauing, the daily numbers are still too high for officials to determine the infection chain and thereby break the transmission.
During talks to take stock of the situation, Merkel will seek to get state premiers to sign up to drastically limiting contacts.
All private parties should be canceled until Christmas, the document proposes.
Children and youths should pick just one specific friend to meet up with outside school hours.
To ensure that schools are kept open as long as possible, the chancellery has also suggested that classes “without exceptions be broken up into fixed groups, where the size of groups in classrooms are halved compared to normal operations.”
An alternative is to use larger rooms for classes, according to the draft.
The document also urges anyone with signs of a cold, including a cough or runny nose, to self-isolate for five to seven days until they are free of symptoms again.
Germany has fared relatively well in the first wave of the pandemic, but numbers have dramatically shot up in the autumn.
On Monday, it reported 10,824 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing total infections to date to 801,327. Some 12,547 people have died from the virus.
Germany’s Merkel pushes for tougher coronavirus curbs in schools, close contacts
https://arab.news/8r82x
Germany’s Merkel pushes for tougher coronavirus curbs in schools, close contacts
- Europe’s biggest economy began a new round of shutdowns in November
- Germany has fared relatively well in the first wave of the pandemic
Pull him off TV: Steve Bannon shuts down Sen. Lindsey Graham
- Trump’s former chief strategist called for the senator to be registered as a foreign agent
DUBAI: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for US Sen. Lindsey Graham to be registered as a foreign agent of the Israeli government, escalating a growing conservative backlash against the senator’s vocal support for Israel.
Speaking on his podcast “War Room,” Bannon said Graham should be “pulled off of television.”
“This is dangerous … because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing the wrong thing,” said Bannon.
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Graham said: “To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists … I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day.”
Graham also urged Gulf Arab states to join military action against Iran. “What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, (is) step forward and say ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
In a post on X, Graham questioned the value of a US defense agreement with Saudi Arabia following the evacuation of the American Embassy in Riyadh, writing: “Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
Faisal J. Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, responded to Graham’s comments in a Sky News interview, saying: “He flip flops so much, it’s actually entertaining.”
“On one hand, he says he will never set foot in Saudi Arabia. The next day, he’s here signing multimillion-dollar deals.”
“I don’t think anyone here takes him seriously,” Abbas added.
He warned Graham to be careful what he wished for: “Do you really want Saudi Arabia involved in this war putting our oil facilities at risk or do you want us stabilizing the energy markets?”
Graham pressed further, warning that inaction would carry a price. “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”
“Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow.”
The American Embassy is being evacuated in Riyadh because of sustained attacks by Iran against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 9, 2026
It is my understanding the Kingdom refuses to use their capable military as a part of an effort to end the barbaric and terrorist Iranian regime who has…
Graham’s remarks drew sharp criticism from Bannon and others including podcast host Megyn Kelly.
She questioned on X whether Graham was overstepping his authority as a senator, writing: “When did Lindsey Graham become our president?”
Kelly also said Graham had threatened Lebanon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab region, and Spain within a 24-hour period.
When did Lindsay Graham become our president? In the past 24 hours he’s threatened Lebanon, Cuba, the Saudis, the wider Arab region and now - checks notes - Spain https://t.co/h53EuFJRyQ
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 10, 2026
The problem with Graham “isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him,” she said in another post.
Let’s get real. The problem with Lindsay Graham isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him, and Trump’s favorite channel is parading him around like a Hefner bunny in stockings on every show.
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 10, 2026
