Covid 19 coronavirus: German cafe makes customers wear swimming noodle hats to enforce social distancing

Customers sitting outside Cafe & Konditorei Rothe in Schwerin, Germany, all wore straw hats with two swimming pool noddles taped to the top. Photo / Facebook

A German cafe's reopening after being in Covid-1ockdown went swimmingly well after forcing customers to wear pool noodle hats in a bid to enforce social distancing.

Cafe & Konditorei Rothe in Schwerin designed straw hats that had three swimming pool noodles taped to the top on all sides.

The cafe introduced the rule in a bid to make sure customers were abiding by the social distancing rules.

"In these difficult times it's a pleasure to make others smile," restaurant owner Jacqueline Rothe said about the stunt.

Customers sitting outside Cafe & Konditorei Rothe in Schwerin, Germany, all wore straw hats with two swimming pool noddles taped to the top. Photo / Facebook

A picture of the cafe's unique policy was shared on Facebook, with people flocking to share their reactions to the store's noodle technique.

One Facebook user said: "My husband had suggested a week ago that we in Spain should all wear wide sombreros. Ahead of his time!"

Another added: "So, I think that's innovative. There is certainly a portion of ironic humour in it!"

Not everyone was positive about the idea.

Others expressed concerns that the cafe is reusing hats, with many wondering if they clean them between sittings.

Germany has been slowly easing its shutdown since late April.

Chancellor Angela Merkel also plans to open Germany's borders with France, Switzerland and Austria from June 15 after it imposed restrictions two months ago to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Germany has 174,098 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 7861 recorded fatalities, according to John Hopkins.