Four-week lockdown extension proposed in Germany to avoid health-care overload.

Four-week lockdown extension proposed in Germany to avoid health-care overload.

Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed keeping German lockdown restrictions in force for another four weeks after Covid-19 cases rose beyond a level that may prompt government action to avoid health-care overload.

The plan would extend and slightly tighten existing curbs through April 18, according to a chancellery draft seen by Bloomberg. Merkel and regional government leaders will discuss the proposals on Monday during talks on how to proceed with the lockdown amid an upward curve of infections in Europe’s biggest economy.

With much of Europe headed for its Easter holiday break at the end of March, the draft suggests mandatory quarantines and Covid tests for travellers returning to Germany, while indicating that officials haven’t agreed on that measure yet.

For hard-hit areas in Germany, other possible curbs where a final decision is pending include nightly curfews until 5 a.m. and closures of schools and child care if teachers and pupils can’t get tested twice a week.

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