Demonstrations also are held in Austria, Britain, Finland, Romania and Switzerland.
BERLIN — Protesters in Germany clashed with police Saturday over coronavirus measures, with officers using water cannons, pepper spray and batons against people trying to break through police barriers, German news agency dpa reported. Protests against government measures to rein in the pandemic also were reported in several other countries across Europe, including Austria, Britain, Finland, Romania and Switzerland. More than 20,000 people participated in the protest in the central German city of Kassel, where there also were confrontations between the demonstrators and counter-protesters. Thousands of people marched through downtown Kassel despite a court ban, and most didn’t comply with infection-control protocols such as wearing face masks. Some protesters attacked officers and several journalists, dpa said. Federal police, who were brought in beforehand from other parts of Germany, used water cannons and helicopters to control the crowds, the news agency reported. Police said several people were detained, but didn’t give any numbers. Various groups, most of them far-right opponents of government regulations to fight the pandemic, had called for protests Saturday in cities across the country. Virus infections have gone up again in Germany in recent weeks and the government is set to decide next week on how to react. Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday Germany will have to apply an “emergency brake” and reverse some recent relaxations of restrictions as coronavirus infections accelerate. Germany’s national disease control center said new infections were growing exponentially as the more contagious COVID-19 variant first detected in Britain has become dominant in the country. On Saturday, the Robert Koch Institute reported 16,033 new cases and registered 207 additional deaths, bringing the overall death toll to 74,565 in Germany.
