Merkel Reins In Partying as Europe Struggles With Virus Flare-Up

  • Limits for public and private meetings in regional hot spots
  • Across Europe, restrictions are tightening to contain spread
Berliners relax near swans on the bank of the Landwehr Canal in the Kreuzberg district at dusk in Berlin on Sept. 16.Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
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Germany is taking aim at public and private parties, joining several other European countries in stepping up restrictions to contain a resurgent wave of coronavirus infections.

Europe’s largest economy will “urgently” recommend that state governments restrict at-home gatherings to 25 people and it will limit meetings in public or rented locations to 50 people if infection numbers rise, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday after discussing the pandemic with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states. The recommendations and limits for local virus hot spots fall short of a nationwide requirement.