Public access to stadiums, cultural venues, festivals and fairs in Germany will remain banned until the end of the year, as the country is set to prolong this coronavirus measure.
A draft agreement between the regions and the government to that effect was obtained by AFP. The extension will be discussed on Thursday, according to Deutsche Welle.
The extension of the ban is a hard blow for the country's football clubs, which were hoping to be able to start partially bringing their supporters back to the stadiums with the new season due to begin on 18 September with a match between Bayern Munich and Schalke 04.
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Some exceptions will reportedly be allowed, however, in areas where the infection rate has been low for at least a week and "if it is ensured that participants come exclusively from that area or neighbouring areas" where the spread of the virus would also be contained.
Germany counted on Thursday 237,936 cases of Covid-19 and 9,285 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the Robert Koch Institute, which is responsible for disease control and prevention in the country. Belgium, for comparison, has counted 83,030 cases and 9,879 deaths.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
