Thousands in Germany protest against coronavirus restrictions
Police officers pepper spray protesters during a demonstration at Alexanderplatz, amid the spread of COVID-19, in Berlin, Germany, May 9, 2020. REUTERS
Thousands of people took to the streets of Stuttgart and Berlin on Saturday (May 9) to protest against the measures taken by the German government in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
In the southwestern city of Stuttgart thousands of people gathered, some showing banners and signs with slogans like "Democracy instead of Merkel's dictatorship" and "Sleep, consume, obey".
The city had restricted the number of participants to 10,000 people in order to ensure corona restrictions could be complied with.
Meanwhile, in Berlin, hundreds protested at Alexanderplatz, a popular central square, and in front of Germany's Reichstag parliament building.
At the Reichstag, police intervened as the protest exceeded 50 people, the number of people authorised to rally.
Some protesters were temporarily taken into custody by the police, including German vegan cook Attila Hildmann.
Germany has the fifth-highest COVID-19 caseload behind the United States, Spain, Italy and France but has kept fatalities down to a relatively low thanks to early and extensive testing as well as putting restrictions, which it has since started to ease, in place.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,251 to 168,551, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday.
The reported death toll rose by 147 to 7,369, the tally showed.
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