Stricter measures to keep the Covid-19 infections rates low in the country, German Finance Chief says

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has said that forcing stricter measures to keep the infections rates low and not thinking of reopeing the economy in near future is inevitable for the country.

“There is not a time for opening. This is the time for being very tough, for keeping infection rates down,” Scholz said while speaking to the CNBC.

According to the CNBC report, Europe’s most powerful economy has suffered from the coronavirus pandemic, having faced different waves of infections and subsequent lockdowns. In 2020, the German economy contracted almost 5%, according to data from the International Monetary Fund, and is only seen growing by 3.6% this year.

As of Tuesday, Germany had registered more than 2.9 million cases of Covid-19 and 77,103 deaths, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Germany has distributed 22.8 doses of Covid-19 shots per 100 inhabitants as of Monday, according to the ECDC. This is lower than France, Cyprus, Ireland and Hungary — just to name a few examples in the wider EU.

In addition, German health experts decided last week to suspend the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot for people aged below 60 due to renewed concerns over reports of blood clots.

However , Scholz said, “I think we will come to a situation where at the end of this month it will be 4 to 5 million doses a week.”

“I think this will make the necessary progress and this is why we have to be strict now because if we are strict in reducing the infections it will be easier to have the success coming from vaccinating,” he added.