Due to “the exponential growth” of coronavirus cases, the German city of Munich has canceled its Christmas market, which attracts more than two million visitors, Mayor Dieter Reiter announced on Tuesday.
Munich is the first major German city to make such a decision this year, in the face of the virulence of the new epidemic wave affecting Germany. Bavaria (south) is one of the most affected regions. “This is bitter news (…) but the dramatic situation in our hospitals and the exponential growth in the number of infections leave me no other choice,” said the elected official in a press release.
Do not send a “bad signal”
On the other hand, the city of Nuremberg, in northern Bavaria, has decided to maintain its world-famous Christmas market, she confirmed on Monday, but by organizing it this year from November 26 at four different places of the city in order to avoid too large gatherings of people.
The mayor of Munich, the country’s second city with more than a million and a half inhabitants, justified his decision by the desire not to send a “bad signal” at a time when the city’s hospitals are facing “a catastrophic situation ”, according to their officials. Germany, like other German-speaking countries, is facing a surge in infections due in part to a vaccination rate (67.6%) below the government’s targets.
Several particularly affected regions
Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital, is particularly affected by this wave, with a seven-day incidence rate of more than 500, behind two other regional states, Saxony and Thuringia, even more heavily affected.
The seven-day incidence recorded a new record Tuesday in Germany, at more than 312, while the number of new Covid-19 infections reached 32,048 in 24 hours, according to the Robert-Koch health watch institute (RKI ). The Munich Christmas market was scheduled to open on November 22. All Christmas markets, a tradition deeply rooted in Germany, were canceled last year because of the pandemic.
