Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced steps to ease the coronavirus lockdown in Germany but at the same time launched an “emergency brake” mechanism allowing for renewed restrictions in case infections pick up again.
Declaring an end to the first phase of the pandemic in Germany, Merkel said that there is still a long way to go in the battle against the virus, which has battered Europe’s largest economy.
The government will decide on an economic stimulus package in June, Merkel said, adding this was a “very ambitious” time frame.
Germany went into lockdown in March to contain coronavirus contagion.
Its reproduction rate – R0 – has been falling for several days, and Merkel said it was now consistently below 1 – meaning a person with the virus infects fewer than one other on average.
“We are at a point where our goal of slowing the spread of the virus has been achieved and we have been able to protect our health system ... so it has been possible to discuss and agree on further easing measures,” she told reporters.
In theory Germany’s reopening is immediate, but in practice the 16 federal states will make separate announcements.
Under measures agreed with Germany’s federal state leaders, people from two households will be allowed to meet, and more shops will open, provided hygiene measures are in place.
However, guidelines on people keeping a distance of 1.5m (five feet) from each other and wearing mouth and nose masks on public transport will remain in place.
Germany’s Bundesliga soccer league can resume in the second half of May, Merkel said.
Schools would gradually start reintroducing all pupils and emergency care for kindergarten-aged children would be expanded, with details to be regulated by the states.
People in care homes may again receive regular visits from “a permanent contact person”, Merkel said after talks with regional leaders.
Their plan includes an “emergency brake”, a fail-safe under which restrictions would be reintroduced if an area registers more than 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days.
“If something happens locally, we won’t wait until it has spread through the whole republic, but rather we will act locally,” Merkel said.
She said she had a good feeling about yesterday’s decisions, particularly given the emergency brake, but warned: “We have to be careful that we don’t lose control of this thing.”
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 947 to 164,807, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed earlier.
The reported coronavirus death toll rose by 165 to 6,996.
The federal and state governments will wait and see how the easing measures pan out, Merkel said, adding: “We now face a phase in which there will be a lot more (person-to-person) contact than was the case up to now.”
“We are following a bold path. We can afford to be a bit bold but we must remain cautious.”
Like elsewhere, Merkel’s government is walking a tightrope between preventing new deadly outbreaks of the virus and containing the already devastating impact of the lockdown measures.
With the economy now in a deep recession and the ranks of jobless swelling, complaints are growing against Merkel’s conservative approach – which won her a rise in support in the early days of the pandemic.
In recent days, many state premiers have brazenly ignored her pleas for caution on easing coronavirus restrictions.
On the eve of her discussions with regional leaders, Germany’s biggest state Bavaria pre-empted federal measures by announcing that its restaurants would open from May 18 and hotels and guest houses from May 30.
State premier Markus Soeder said “the time has come for a cautious reopening”, pointing to the “success” in containing the spread of the virus.
Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saarland and Saxony-Anhalt have also announced their own plans, covering everything from restaurants to care homes.
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