German Chancellor Angela Merkel takes off her face mask when she arrives at the national integration summit at the Berlin chancellery on October 19, 2020.
FABRIZIO BENSCH | AFP | Getty Images
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday reversed plans for a coronavirus shutdown for Easter amid criticism from experts and officials for the move.
Plans had planned to place the country in a strict closure during the Easter holidays, which would have allowed all shops and churches to be closed from 1 to 5 April.
“We must try to curb the third wave of the pandemic. However, it was a mistake,” Merkel said during a press conference, according to the German newspaper Deutsche Welle. “After all, I take the ultimate responsibility.”
“Now it’s important that you say it here. A mistake should be called a mistake and, most importantly, it should be corrected, preferably in time,” he added, according to the news agency.
Merkel’s comments come after strong criticism that a plan, devised earlier this week with regional leaders, to impose a strict blockade during the Easter period to help stop a third wave of coronavirus cases ‘is currently being seen in Germany, largely driven by more infectious variants of the virus.
Critics of the measure, which included health experts and business leaders, said the blockade could do more harm than good, particularly plans to allow grocery stores and supermarkets to open for a limited period of time during the holidays. , a measure that can cause crowds of people. to gather. Others questioned the loss of working hours and the wages that the move would entail.
“It was well reasoned, but it couldn’t really be done in such a short time,” Merkel said Wednesday, reflecting on the original blocking proposal. “Too many questions could not be adequately answered, from lost wages to wasted time in factories and facilities.”
It is a rare investment by a leader considered the warlord of Europe and seen as a firm hand in times of crisis. It is also another sign that Germany, a country praised for its initial response to the pandemic, is beginning to feel the tension of difficult decisions to be made as the pandemic continues to launch new challenges and concerns.
When the pandemic erupted in Europe in early 2020, Germany demonstrated that it was able to quickly test, track and isolate the first cases of the virus, helping to stop its spread. Its modern health network also helped prevent as many deaths as were seen on its continental neighbors.
Germany has reported nearly 2.7 million cases and more than 75,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. This compares with the 4.3 million cases in the UK and more than 126,000 deaths.
The country had recently begun blocking measures, which allowed schools to reopen in February and some non-essential stores were able to re-admit customers earlier this month. Like other European nations, it was betting on the introduction of coronavirus vaccines to allow it to slowly reopen its economy, the largest in Europe.
Vaccination launches have not been planned in the EU, but with Germany, a country known for its organizational skills, negatively surprising experts with its slow program.
Germany is not the only one to have to adjust plans around Easter; Italy has to re-impose a national closure during the period of the second consecutive year, while Paris and other parts of France are again under partial closure.