- Title: Germany closes down bars and clubs to slow spread of coronavirus
- Date: 14th March 2020
- Summary: COLOGNE, GERMANY (MARCH 14, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH PARK MAN CYCLING NEXT TO RIVER RHINE WOMEN SITTING ON BENCH OVERLOOKING RIVER WITH COLOGNE DOME IN BACKGROUND COLOGNE CITY DIRECTOR STEPHAN KELLER SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) COLOGNE CITY DIRECTOR STEPHAN KELLER, SAYING: "We will ban any event in Cologne until April 10. This ban also applies to church services and religious events. Excluded from the ban are events which are needed to ensure the safety of the public. This also includes weekly food markets, which serve the local supply." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT WEEKLY MARKET (SOUNDBITE) (German) COLOGNE RESIDENT LINDA SCHLOESSER, SAYING: "I can understand it. I can understand these measures being taken, one has to contain it, to try and contain it, we all have to adjust to it a bit. I am happy that the weekly market takes place, therefore I am still doing fine, thank God." (SOUNDBITE) (German) COLOGNE RESIDENTS KARL-HEINZ PUETZ AND MONIQUE PUETZ, SAYING: "We are trying to be careful. One can't just sit at home and not go out anymore. We have to buy food and we need fresh air. But we don't come too close to other people. Not more, besides that we use our time to go out and not just sit at home." (SOUNDBITE) (German) COLOGNE RESIDENT RENATE LUXEM, SAYING: "I am 83 years old now and that's why I have to say: You know what? I don't care. If it happens to me, then that's bad luck. Then it's just like it is." MORE OF PEOPLE DOING THEIR FOOD SHOPPING AT MARKET BERLIN, GERMANY (MARCH 13, 2020) (REUTERS) BERLIN MAYOR MICHAEL MUELLER GIVING NEWS CONFERENCE MUELLER SEEN IN CAMERA VIEWFINDER (SOUNDBITE) (German) BERLIN MAYOR MICHAEL MUELLER, SAYING: "It's very clear that all cultural events must be limited." BERLIN, GERMANY (MARCH 14, 2020) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET, WHERE 'PRIVATCLUB' IS LOCATED POSTER SHOWING CLUB PROGRAMME CLUB OWNER OF 'PRIVATCLUB', NORBERT JACKSCHENTIES, TAKING COFFEE AND SITTING DOWN AT BAR VARIOUS OF JACKSCHENTIES DRINKING COFFEE (SOUNDBITE) (German) CLUB OWNER OF 'PRIVATCLUB', NORBERT JACKSCHENTIES, SAYING: "This is my life, my baby. I thought this out by myself, I built it and I cared for it. The people working here - we are only a small team of 20 people - are like my family. These are people, who love the club and are attached to it." SPIRITS ON SHELF (SOUNDBITE) (German) CLUB OWNER OF 'PRIVATCLUB', NORBERT JACKSCHENTIES, SAYING: "The problem is, if their money is gone in two months and then the summer does worse than the last summer, then insolvency is certain. I don't make it then. Without help I won't make it."
- Embargoed: 28th March 2020 18:45
- Keywords: Berlin Cologne Coronavirus Germany bars clubs lock-down markets
- Location: COLOGNE AND BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: COLOGNE AND BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001C50XGZR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Berlin and Cologne are to close all bars, clubs, cinemas, theatres and concert halls with immediate effect as Germany ramps up its efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Cologne, in western Germany, which has a population of more than 1 million people, said nightclubs, bars, theatres, cinemas and amusement arcades would close until April 10. Church and religious services are also banned. Restaurants and pubs that serve food could remain open, as in Berlin.
"The Berlin Senate decided today that from now on all public and non-public events in Berlin with 50 or more participants are forbidden," the capital's city state government said in a statement on Saturday.
Museums, brothels, swimming pools and gyms would also close in the capital, which - like other German states - is shutting schools next week until the end of the Easter vacation. The tiny state of Saarland in the west did the same.
Germany's highly devolved system means it is up to regional governments to decide on closures.
Health Minister Jens Spahn earlier on Saturday asked people returning from Italy, Switzerland and Austria to self-isolate for up to two weeks to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
As of Saturday, there were 3,795 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Germany, with eight deaths, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said.
That was a rise from 3,062 confirmed cases, with five deaths, a day earlier. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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