Germany may need tougher COVID-19 curbs before Christmas, minister says

FILE PHOTO: People with protective face masks walk at Tauentzienstrasse shopping boulevard, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Berlin, Germany, December 5, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany might tighten restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Health Minister Jens Spahn said, as a partial lockdown and social distancing rules in place since the start of November have slowed, but not stopped the disease spreading.

Chancellor Angela Merkel told party colleagues on Monday that existing lockdown measures in place would not be sufficient to get the European Union's most populous country through the winter, participants at the meeting said.