Business not responsible for COVID-19 infection rise - German minister

News conference after informal talks of the EU Trade Ministers in Berlin

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said the government will do everything it can to prevent renewed closures of shops, businesses and factories amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Rising infection numbers in many cases can be traced back not to shops and factories but to private activities like parties, Altmaier told the German parliament on Thursday.

"You have our guarantee that we will do everything we can to ensure that the (economic) upswing continues in the months to come," Altmaier added.

(Reporting by Thomas Seythal and Thomas Escritt; Editing by Michael Nienaber)