the times | Friday August 7 2020 2GM 15News
Germany has recorded more than
1,000 new coronavirus cases in a day for
the first time since early May as the
government said that all new arrivals
from “risky” countries would be obliged
to take a test.
The number of infections has been
gently but steadily rising across much
of the country over the past fortnight.
Yesterday it reached 1,045 new cases, up
from fewer than 400 a day on average
in the middle of July.
Jens Spahn, the health minister, an-
nounced that all travellers coming into
the country from “risk zones”, including
Turkey, the United States, Luxembourg
and parts of Spain and Belgium, would
have to take a coronavirus test upon ar-
rival or pay a fine of up to €25,000. They
are already required to quarantine for 14Germany to test arrivals from ‘risk
nations’ as cases reach 1,000 a day
Oliver Moody Berlin days unless they can present a negative
test result no more than two days old.
Officials worry that incomers from
coronavirus-stricken regions such as
southeastern Europe are stoking the
chances of a full-blown second wave.
Nearly one in five cases in Germany
now originate overseas, compared to
one in 250 three months ago, according
to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI),
which is co-ordinating the national
Covid-19 response.
Over the past week 608 of the coun-
try’s 7,606 new infections were traced
back to Kosovo. The other biggest
sources were Serbia, Turkey and Bos-
nia-Herzegovina. The RKI said that ar-
rivals from overseas had played a “sig-
nificant” role in fresh outbreaks in Of-
fenbach, near Frankfurt, and Herne, a
city near Bochum in the Ruhr region.
Mr Spahn, a strongly conservativefigure in Angela Merkel’s centre-right
party, said that he was instinctively
reluctant to encroach upon the “liber-
ties of the individual” but that people
also had responsibilities to their fellow
citizens.
“Liberty always comes with responsi-
bility towards oneself and towards
others,” he said. “What we are seeing is
a lot of small outbreaks. People are
getting infected at family parties, at
their place of work or at community
facilities.”
Testing stations will be set up at air-
ports and border crossings on road and
rail routes. Those who slip through the
net will be entitled to free tests within 72
hours of entering Germany.
The epidemiological situation in
Germany is hanging in the balance.
While some doctors and politicians say
that the country is already goingthrough a second wave, the number of
cases remains far below the 6,000 or
7,000 a day recorded in March and
early April.
The R number, which measures the
number of people the average patient is
expected to infect, has fallen slightly to
0.99, suggesting that things may be sta-
bilising, at least in the very short term.
The Association of City and District
Councils, which represents Germany’s
local authorities, also says its members
are well equipped to cope with a
sustained increase.
There are, however, concerns about
crowds during the heatwave forecast
over the coming few days.
School holidays, the dates of which
are staggered across Germany’s 16
states, are ending in some regions, in-
creasing concerns that returning holi-
daymakers could bring home the virus.Twin towns
seek ‘bubble’
on the border
Charlie Mitchell OttawaA small town in British Columbia and
its Alaskan neighbour are petitioning
their provincial, state and national gov-
ernments to set up an “integrated trans-
border community” as an exception to
the closure of the US-Canadian border.
Hyder, Alaska, is only accessible by
road through Canada. Since March its
63 residents have been allowed to cross
into Stewart (population 425), British
Columbia, for essentials only once a
week. Canadians who return from
Alaska, meanwhile, must quarantine
for two weeks.
Dr Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s
chief health officer, said that the re-
quest sounded reasonable but that the
federal government might not agree.
Canada has had fewer than 120,
cases of Covid-19, while the US figure is
approaching five million. Neither Hy-
der not Stewart has had a single case.News
Global cases 18,614,
Global deaths 702,World update
Countries reporting
most deathsSource: WHOUS 4,728,239 156,050 471
Brazil 2,801,921 95,819 451
Mexico 449,961 48,869 379
UK 308,134 46,413 684
India 1,964,536 40,699 29
Italy 248,803 35,181 582
France 181,652 30,182 462
Spain 305,767 28,499 610
Peru 439,890 20,007 607
Iran 317,483 17,802 212
Russia 871,894 14,606 100
Colombia 334,979 11,315 222
Belgium 71,065 9,859 851
Chile 364,723 9,792 512
South Africa 529,877 9,298 157
Germany 213,067 9,175 110
Canada 117,792 8,958 237
Netherlands 56,381 6,153 359
Pakistan 281,863 6,035 27
Ecuador 88,866 5,847 331
Turkey 236,112 5,784 69
Sweden 81,540 5,760 570
Indonesia 116,871 5,452 20
Iraq 137,556 5,094 127
Egypt 94,875 4,931 48
China 88,804 4,684 3
Argentina 213,535 4,009 89
Bolivia 83,361 3,320 284
Bangladesh 246,674 3,267 20Cases DeathsDeaths/
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Bangladesh
Indonesia
UK
China8,
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95049,56,
51,Reported new casesoutbreak, says US medical chief
appropriate medical care”. Arizona,
a state of 7.3 million people, has
reported more than 124,000 cases.india
The country recorded 904 deaths,
the biggest daily tally, as infections
surged by 56,282 to nearly two
million. The health ministry put
fatalities at 40,699. India has
recorded 20,000 deaths in 30 days.The ministry says the recovery rate
has improved in the past fortnight
to 67 per cent from 63 per cent.japan
The governor of Aichi prefecture,
which includes Nagoya, the fourth-
largest city, announced a state of
emergency until August 24. Hideaki
Ohmura asked businesses to close
altogether or shut early and urgedpeople to stay home at night. Cases
in the province have risen by 100 or
more a day since mid-July. Japan
has had 42,700 cases and 1,
deaths.singapore
A spate of suicides has heightened
concern over the mental health of
thousands of low-paid migrant
workers who have been confined todormitories. In April, Singapore
sealed off sprawling housing blocks
where its vast population of mainly
South Asian labourers live in
crowded bunk rooms. Four months
on, some remain under quarantine.
“Many say the mental anguish is a
more serious problem than the
virus.” said Deborah Fordyce,
president of Transient Workers
Count Too, a migrant rights group.Alex Grivas, a store manager in Sydney, Australia, wears a mask to serve customers. New South Wales advises people to wear face coverings if they cannot socially distanceLISA MAREE WILLIAMS/GETTY IMAGES