Unvaccinated Germans face more COVID tests to avoid restrictions

FILE PHOTO: People queue to receive a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during a night of vaccinations with music, at the Arena Treptow vaccination centre in Berlin, Germany, August 9, 2021. John Macdougall/Pool via REUTERS

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany needs to increase testing and boost vaccinations to avoid another COVID-19 lockdown, the conservative candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor said on Tuesday, before government talks to curb a rise in new cases.

Less than seven weeks before a federal election, Merkel and leaders of the 16 federal states will try to agree on measures to avoid a new wave of infections, driven by the spread of the Delta variant, and avert unpopular restrictions.