“Therefore, we must proceed wisely and carefully so that a third wave does not require a complete new closure across Germany.”
Much of Europe is reporting cases of more recent variants of Covid-19, especially those that first appeared in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Both are believed to spread more quickly than previous variants.
In Germany’s staggered approach to reopening, hairdressers are expected to resume business on March 1, while most other businesses are expected to remain closed until March 7.
There are currently about 61.7 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in Germany, according to the Robert Koch Institute, the country’s public health authority. Merkel said the goal is to reduce that incident rate to 35 per 100,000 in order to reopen the economy in a meaningful way.
Merkel defended states’ decisions to reopen schools, saying that districts that reached the rate of 35 out of 100,000 could do so without impacting other areas.
She added that large-scale tests would be launched in line with the country’s phased reopening.
“An intelligent openness strategy is closely linked to comprehensive rapid tests, as if they were free trials,” added Merkel. “I can’t say exactly how long it will take to install this system. But it will be in March.”
Germany was able to decrease the Covid-19 infection rate with its blockade, which included the closure of its borders with Austria and the Czech Republic. Czech health officials are now confirming record daily infections, with the number of deaths rising to one of the worst per capita in the world, bringing their hospitals to the brink of collapse.
Germany, like many countries in the European Union, is struggling to launch a comprehensive vaccination program that would help a faster reopen of its economy. The European Union is distributing its vaccines equally among its 27 member states, in proportion to its populations, but has received tens of millions of doses less than it expected.
The European Parliament is expected to interrogate pharmaceutical companies at a public hearing on Thursday, demanding answers about failures to deliver agreed vaccine dose numbers.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz warned that restrictions in his country are beginning to lose their impact, highlighting the urgent need for an increase in vaccine stocks in the bloc.
“The objective situation in Austria was simply that, after six weeks, the blockade had lost its effect. People joined it less and less, there were more and more changes in the private sector and a block where nobody participates, of course, does little sense, “he told the German newspaper Bild.
He will pressure the European Union on Thursday to put in place a “green passport” system to allow people who have been vaccinated to travel within the bloc.
While Germany and several other European countries are considering how to lift their restrictions, France – which resisted a new national blockade as new variants emerged – is imposing others. President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce new measures on Thursday.
The French Riviera has been placed under weekend confinement for the next two weeks, while the region around the port city of Dunkirk will begin weekend confinement on Saturday.