Germany approves 2.5 billion euros COVID fund for culture sector - source

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government on Wednesday approved a special fund worth up to 2.5 billion euros ($3.1 billion) to help the cultural sector cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a government source told Reuters.

Under the plan, from July 1 the government would pay a surcharge on tickets sold to help support events where the number of attendees is reduced due to COVID-19. The surcharge payment would apply up to a certain limit of tickets sold.

A second element would be cancellation insurance for larger events with more than 2,000 participants, the source said.

($1 = 0.8170 euros)

(Reporting by Holger Hansen; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Kirsti Knolle)