Berlin (TIP): Germany’s leaders are set to consider possible new restrictions and changes to quarantine rules on January 7 as the new Omicron variant advances quickly. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the country’s 16 state governors are likely to build on restrictions introduced just after Christmas that limited private gatherings to 10 people, among other things.One measure under consideration is toughening a measure that requires people to provide proof of full vaccination or recovery to enter restaurants or bars. They could now be required to provide proof of either a booster shot or a fresh negative test.

Scholz and the governors also are expected to consider shortening required quarantine or self-isolation periods that are currently as long as 14 days, something that many other countries already have done.

The Covid-19 situation in Germany has been foggy for the past two weeks because of very patchy testing and slow reporting over the holiday period. Official figures, which authorities have acknowledged don’t yet show the full picture, have shown a steady increase in the infection rate over the past week.

On Friday, the national disease control centre, the Robert Koch Institute, reported an official rate of 303.4 new cases per 1,00,000 residents over the past seven days. Over the past 24 hours, 56,335 new cases were reported.

In its weekly report on Thursday, the institute said Omicron accounted for 44.3 per cent of cases tested for variants in Germany last week, up from 15.8 per cent the previous week.

Germany’s vaccination campaign is regaining speed after the holidays. As of Thursday, 71.5 per cent of the population had received a full first vaccine course and 40.9 per cent had had a booster shot. —AP