Germany’s leading health official says decision on curfew is ‘up to authorities’

The health official leading Germany’s fight against coronavirus urged people on Friday to keep their distance to curb the pandemic.

However, Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute, also said it was up to the authorities to decide whether to impose a curfew to force people to follow official guidelines.

“We recommend keeping maximal distance. It is up to the authorities to decide on the measures needed to achieve that,” Wieler told reporters.

He spoke after the number of German cases of Covid-19 rose by 2,958 overnight to 13,957. The number of fatalities rose by 11 to 31, according to Reuters.