Expos exempt from German gatherings ban

Exhibitions are exempt from the extended ban on large gatherings introduced by the German government at the weekend. The ban will now run until the end of the year.

Exhibitions have avoided the ban, as they are able to track visitors, provide appropriate hygiene facilities, and instigate crowd-management measures.

The ban – which covers crowd-pulling events such as football matches, concerts, and the like – was due to expire next month but has now been extended until the end of December.

The first trade show at the Düsseldorf Messe Centre, a ten-day caravanning expo will open its doors on Friday. The big print show drupa, which was postponed from June, is now due to take place April 20-28, and packaging event interpack in February.

Both drupa and interpack will go ahead even if the large gatherings ban is extended further into next year, subject to any further decisions by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The spread of the virus in Germany is "currently still significantly lower than the peak reached in March and April", the government said, but, "in recent weeks the number of infections has increased again". The government is concerned about holidaymakers importing the virus from abroad.