Germany eyes accelerated return to normality after coronavirus lockdown
Germany is eyeing an almost complete return to normality in May, with plans to send all pupils back to school and restart top-flight Bundesliga football, according to a draft agreement seen by AFP.
"Even after initial steps to open up were introduced from April 20, the number of new infections remained low," the document said. It added that "no new wave of infection" had so far been detected, justifying the series of bolder reopening steps.
Schools had already been allowed to open, but only to older children so far. Likewise, only shops up to a certain size were allowed to do business.
But in the broader easing of stay-at-home measures, Angela Merkel's government will now throw all school gates and shops open, provided that hygiene measures, including maintaining social distance, are kept up.
The Bundesliga will become the first of Europe's top five leagues to restart – something that Health Minister, Jens Spahn, said could make the competition an "export hit".
Only the cultural sector would have to wait, with large events remaining cancelled until the end of August. Borders also remain closed.
The agreement came just hours before Mrs Merkel is due to confer with Germany's 16 state premiers to take stock of the development of infections since Europe's biggest economy first took steps to lift some restrictions.
With 164,807 confirmed infected cases of coronavirus and 6,996 deaths, Germany has so far been able to prevent the scenes of dire hospital overcrowding seen elsewhere in Europe.
However, Mrs Merkel has repeatedly urged caution, warning that it would be a "crying shame" to throw away early successes in containing the virus.
The restrictions, along with greater testing capacities, have seen Germany keep its death rate far lower than those of its European neighbours.
Experts have urged restraint, with the head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control warning of possible second or third waves of the virus hitting the country. As elsewhere, Mrs Merkel's government is walking a tightrope between preventing new deadly outbreaks and containing the already devastating economic impact of the lockdown measures.
With the economy now in deep recession and the ranks of jobless swelling, complaints are growing against Mrs 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 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 for everything from restaurants to care homes.
The North Rhine-Westphalia state premier, Armin Laschet, who has criticised Mrs Merkel's firmer stance on restrictions, told public broadcaster ARD late last month that the negative effects of the lockdown must be "weighed up".
He attacked what he said were the pessimistic predictions of some medical experts, pointing out that "40 percent of intensive care beds are empty" in his state.
Demonstrations against the lockdown were held in several German cities last weekend, and a new political movement calling itself Widerstand 2020 (Resistance 2020) claims on its website to have more than 100,000 members.
The far-right AfD, Germany's largest opposition party by number of MPs, has also attacked the lockdown measures.
