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		</div><p>German lawmakers have approved new measures to rein in record coronavirus infections after the head of the nation’s disease control agency warned the country could face a “really terrible Christmas”.</p>
<p>The measures passed in the Bundestag with votes from the centre-left Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats. The three parties are negotiating to form a new government.</p>
<p>The legislation includes requirements for employees to prove they are vaccinated, recovered from Covid-19 or have tested negative for the virus in order to access communal workplaces.</p>
<p>The measures still need to be approved by Germany’s upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat.</p>
<p>Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democrats had wanted to extend existing rules that served as the basis for numerous national and state-wide restrictions.</p>
<p>Due to expire this month, the rules were criticised for marginalizing parliament despite its central role in the German political system.</p>
<p>The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s disease control agency, said on Thursday that 65,371 newly confirmed cases had been reported in a single day, continuing the upward trend that experts have been warning about for weeks.</p>
<p>“We are currently heading towards a serious emergency,” said the agency’s director, Lothar Wieler. “We are going to have a really terrible Christmas if we don’t take counter-measures now.”</p>
<p>Mr Wieler said Germany needs to increase its vaccination rates to significantly above 75%, from 67.7% at present.</p>
<p>The eastern state of Saxony, which at 57.6% has the country’s lowest immunisation rate, is poised to impose a limited lockdown in response to soaring case numbers.</p>
<p>Governor Michael Kretschmer said the state government would decide on a “hard and clear wave breaker” on Friday lasting two to three weeks.</p>
<p>Official figures show Saxony had more than 761 newly confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past week, the highest infection rate in Germany.</p>
<p>Mr Wieler has also called for the closure of clubs and bars, an end to large-scale events and access to many parts of public life to be limited to those with vaccine or recovery certificates.</p>
<p>He warned that hospitals across Germany are struggling to find beds for Covid-19 patients and those with other illnesses.</p>
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