Restrictive measures stopped explosive growth in COVID-19 incidence: Merkel

The restrictive measures introduced in Germany in November helped to stop the explosive growth in the incidence of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country and the authorities will decide on further actions next week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

Germany imposed a "soft" lockdown from November 2 until the end of the month, which, among other things, implies restrictions on catering establishments (only takeaway or delivery orders are possible), cancellation of entertainment events, and restriction of contacts.

On Monday, Merkel discussed with the heads of German regions the situation with the COVID-19 spread in the country. The sides did not reach consensus on a possible tightening of measures, but adopted stricter recommendations to citizens to limit contacts.

"For an interim assessment, this is a good decision. We will continue to prepare for a new conference, where longer-term solutions will be discussed, always based on the goal that we should be able to trace contacts [of those infected]. This means [to achieve the target of] 50 new cases per 100,000 population in seven days," Merkel told reporters after the meeting.

"We still have a long way to go, but the good news is that we have stopped exponential growth and this makes us all happy," she said. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )