Merkel frets as German regional leaders race to ease lockdown

As Germany began to reopen its shops and schools on Monday, a visibly alarmed chancellor Angela Merkel warned it was “illusory” to think the coronavirus crisis had passed.

With nearly 4,500 Covid-19 deaths so far, and another 1,800 new infections registered from Sunday to Monday, Dr Merkel said Germany was still at the start of the pandemic and was “not over the hill by a long shot”.

Earlier, Dr Merkel read the riot act to senior members of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), warning them not to exploit the crisis for political gain by engaging in “discussion orgies” over loosening the lockdown.

After introducing early testing in January, and racing last month to impose the toughest lockdown, Germany’s 16 regional leaders are now competing in public to be the first to loosen restrictions.

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That prompted an unusually emotional appearance by the German leader. A scientist by training, Dr Merkel said she was nervous about loosening the lockdown before breaking the chain of infection. The result of Monday’s partial lifting of lockdown measures, she said, would not be visible for two weeks.

“It would be a crying shame if, with our eyes wide open, we walked into a relapse,” said Dr Merkel. “We cannot endanger our first successes and for not one minute should we feel secure.”

On Friday, Germany’s disease control institute said the rate of infection – the number of people each ill person contaminates – had dropped below one for the first time, prompting federal health minister Jens Spahn to declare the virus “under control”.

Shops reopen

Across the country on Monday, each of Germany’s 16 federal states began lifting lockdown measures in different ways. Most have allowed shops – from florists to fashion retailers – reopen with floor space of up to 800sq m; some states have opened zoos and gyms while others have relaxed the “contact ban”, allowing gatherings of up to 20 people in public, up from two.

Many states reopened schools for students taking state examinations, with other pupils to follow early next moth.

As federal states loosen their lockdowns, two – Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – have made face masks obligatory in public while Bavaria is to follow suit next week.

The staggered return to normality across Germany was greeted with relief by smaller traders, but frustration among owners of larger stores and shopping centres.

“Everyone who enters the store gets a mask from us. There are protective shields at the till. It’s about making people feel comfortable,” said one perfume shop manager in western Berlin.

On the street outside, pedestrians watched the reopening with ambivalence. “It’s nice to see things livening up again,” said Hatun, a young Berlin woman.

“I’m not sure if it is the right thing to do yet,” said Friederike, her friend. “It’s good to get a few things but not for a shopping spree.”

Car plants

After a four-week production shutdown, Daimler began reopening its factories, with Volkswagen and other car companies likely to follow later this week. Germany’s car giants, a pillar of the country’s economy, have warned of an unprecedented financial crisis for them through coronavirus restrictions, and are lobbying for state-subsidised sweeteners to help sell their product.

“They are facing their greatest crisis since the second World War,” said Prof Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a car industry analyst. “They will have to reduce capacity both in their facilities and in staff numbers.”

Across the border in Poland, people were allowed to return to parks and forests after weeks of being sequestered at home. Open-air markets in the Czech Republic also reopened on Monday as part of a six-week push to lift the lockdown.