GUTERSLOH: German authorities on Tuesday ordered fresh coronavirus lockdowns in two districts - the first since easing restrictions and a major setback for hopes of a swift return to normality.
The new lockdowns in Guetersloh and neighbouring Warendorf in western Germany came after a coronavirus outbreak at a slaughterhouse that has infected more than 1,500 workers.
"For the first time in Germany, we will return an entire district to the measures that applied several weeks ago," said Armin Laschet, state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, announcing the measures for Guetersloh.
That lockdown, set to affect 360,000 people, will stay in place until at least June 30, Laschet said.
North Rhine-Westphalia health minister Karl-Josef Laumann later ordered similar measures for Warendorf, covering a further 278,000 residents.
The outbreak at a slaughterhouse run by the Toennies meat company that employs 7,000 people in Germany's most populous state is the biggest since the country began lifting virus lockdown measures in early May.
Local authorities across Germany agreed then to pull an "emergency brake" and reimpose social curbs if the infection rate rises above 50 cases per 100,000 residents over a week in a particular district.
The rate in Guetersloh has soared well above that, sitting at 263 cases per 100,000 residents on Monday.
The new lockdown means a return to measures first introduced in March, with cinemas, museums, concert halls, bars, gyms, indoor swimming pools and saunas shut down, Laschet said.
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