Fifty-seven Romanians living in the German capital have been infected with the novel coronavirus and one is in a serious condition, the foreign ministry said Thursday.
Hundreds of households in Berlin have been placed under quarantine amid a second wave of Covid-19 infections, British tabloid the Sun reported.
The emergency measure came after leaders of Germany’s capital became alarmed at how „incredibly fast” coronavirus was spreading among residents in the south of the city, the paper reported.
The outbreak first affected seven apartment buildings in the south Berlin borough of Neukolln, with 57 Romanians testing positive for coronavirus.
In all 369 households, some with 10 people living together, were placed under quarantine amid fears a second wave could be escalating through the German capital, the Sun reported.
Romania’s foreign ministry said the outbreak came after residents took part in a religious ceremony, including individual services held in people’s homes.
Neukolln mayor Martin Hikel said: “The special thing here is that it went so incredibly fast.
„We realized quite soon that whole apartment blocks were concerned and that we had to put them under quarantine.
„What’s also new and what is special is that the housing conditions are extremely tight and that it is not easy with eight people in a two-room-apartment to stay out of each other’s way or to be locked in for two weeks.
The ministry said local authorities were helping residents to buy groceries and other necessities, and everyone who was placed in quarantine would receive papers justifying the reason for absence from work as well as financial damages.
The ministry said Romania’s embassy was communicating with local authorities and was ready to offer assistance even though it hadn’t received any requests for help.
Berlin has recorded a total of 7,368 cases of Covid-19 and 208 deaths since the outbreak began.
Nationwide the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 345 to 187,184, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed..
