[News] Germany faces calls for nationwide approach to Covid restrictions.

[S9OUL.]

Calls are growing in Germany for the introduction of nationwide coronavirus restrictions amid confusion and frustration over patchwork arrangements across the country as the infection rate continues to rise.

The majority of Germans are in favour of a more unified approach to tackling the virus, now in its third wave, according to a poll, ahead of an expected tightening of rules after the holiday weekend.

Fifty-three per cent of Germans have said they would like to see the government setting the rules without the support of the 16 states, according to a poll by YouGov, in order to introduce more clarity.

The chancellor, Angela Merkel, has persistently called for tighter, more unified rules across the country, but has frequently been overruled by the leaders of the states, leading to a weakening of her standing.

The interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said a nationwide approach was the only way for the country to effectively fight the virus’s spread.

“There is a great desire among the po[CENSORED]tion for unified rules,” he told the newspaper Welt am Sontag. “Therefore my proposal is to establish uniform rules with a federal law … which would prescribe which measures have to be taken according to the incidence value”.

A lag in reporting new infections over the holiday period is thought to be the reason for an apparent fall in the number of incidents. The Robert Koch Institute said Monday’s figure – 8,500 new infections, about 1,400 less than a week ago, was likely to be higher in reality due to the ‘Easter effect’, which meant fewer people were being tested. Fifty deaths were also reported.

More than 4,100 patients with coronavirus, the highest figure since the start of February, are being treated in intensive care, 55% of whom are on ventilators. During the pandemic, the highest level of patients admitted to ICU so far was at the start of January. More than 4,600 ICU beds remain unoccupied.