Germany to ban large events until end of October

A ban of large events, including fairs, will be extended in Germany until at least the end of October due to the coronavirus pandemic, broadcaster n-tv reported on Wednesday. It cited a document prepared for a meeting of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the premiers of the country's 16 states.

Separately, the chief executive of software company SAP said on Wednesday that Germany’s smartphone app to help trace coronavirus infections has been downloaded 6.5 million times in the first 24 hours since its launch, Reuters reported.

Germany joined European countries like Italy, Poland and Latvia in launching apps that use Bluetooth wireless to measure contacts between people.

The technology is still untested, but governments have rushed to deploy it, seeking instead to achieve a kind of digital ‘herd immunity’ against the disease.