Germany will temporarily close all food stores

Out of fear of a third wave, Germany is going to tighten its Covid-19 measures again. From 1 to 5 April, public life will be largely paralysed, and even food stores will have to remain closed for four of the five days.

“Critical situation”

Germany is taking unprecedented measures over the Easter weekend. Under the tagline #WirBleibenZuHause, the country will be shut down completely from 1 to 5 April, reports Belgian newspaper De Standaard. The lockdown, which is already in place, will be extended by three weeks. In addition, the hospitality industry, which is currently allowed to serve customers in the open air, must completely shut down once again.

The most striking measure, however, is the complete closure of stores during the extended Easter weekend. Even food stores have to close their doors and are only allowed to open on Saturday, 3 April. According to Chancellor Angela Merkel, these strict measures are necessary because Germany is now in a “very critical situation.”

As far as we know, Germany is only the second country where food stores have to close temporarily. At the beginning of January, Lebanon took a similar measure: all stores had to close for eleven days. Supermarkets were still allowed to deliver groceries to homes, writes Belgian’s National broadcaster VRT.