BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday canceled plans for a five-day stoppage in Germany during Easter, which has led to confusion and criticism. She considered the idea a mistake and apologized to the Germans.
Merkel announced the decision after calling a hastily arranged video conference on Wednesday with 16 state governors from Germany, who are responsible for imposing and lifting the restrictions. The same group came up with the unexpected plan for deeper restrictions during Easter, which was announced on Tuesday.
The plan was to make Thursday of next week – the day before Good Friday – a “day of rest”, with all stores closed, and to allow supermarkets to open only on Easter Saturday. Since Friday and Monday are already holidays, this would have created a five-day stoppage of public life – in addition to the existing blocking restrictions, which were extended until April 18.
The plan had raised many questions about logistical details, which remained unsolved, and was also criticized because there was no public discussion about it before it was released early Tuesday after a long discussion.
“The idea of a stoppage at Easter was outlined with the best intentions, because we must urgently manage to slow down and reverse the third wave of the pandemic,” said Merkel. “However, the idea … was a mistake – there were good reasons for that, but it couldn’t be implemented well enough in this short period of time.”
“That mistake is my only mistake,” she told reporters. “An error must be called an error and, above all, it must be corrected – and if possible, it must happen at the right time.”
“At the same time, it is clear that I know that this whole issue generates more uncertainty – I deeply regret and apologize to all citizens,” she said.
The number of infections in Germany has increased again, as the most contagious variant of the virus, first detected in Britain, has become dominant in the country.
Germany has recorded more than 75,000 deaths since the pandemic began a year ago. The country’s disease control center also reported 15,815 new cases of infection in the last 24 hours on Wednesday – a week ago there were 13,435 new cases.
Merkel said that, even without the Easter halt, the decisions she made with state governors offer a “framework” to fight the new wave of coronavirus infections.
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