[ad_1]
Earlier on Wednesday, the chancellor and leaders of 16 states were reported to have agreed to cancel their plans over Easter to tighten restrictions on the coronavirus pandemic.
During a meeting on Monday, leaders agreed that almost all stores would be closed from April 1-5. Only grocery stores could open on Saturday, April 3.
But after these plans drew strong criticism, an extraordinary meeting was called on Wednesday, and the leaders agreed only to ask the public to spend Easter weekend at home, an AFP source said.
“The idea of further tightening the quarantine at Easter was prepared with the best intentions in mind, because we must quickly control the third wave of the coronavirus,” said Angela Merkel. – Still, this idea … was a mistake. The reasons were good, but it would not be implemented properly in such a short time. “
“This mistake is mine alone,” he told reporters. “Mistakes need to be recognized and, more importantly, corrected and, if possible, done in a timely manner.”
“I just realized that the whole thing had caused even more uncertainty. I am very sorry for this and sincerely apologize to all citizens,” said the German Chancellor.
Angela Merkel
The decision to further toughen the quarantine at Easter in Germany was criticized by opposition politicians, Church representatives, employers’ organizations and even the Interior Minister.
The meeting, which started on Wednesday, discussed a number of questions, such as whether a public holiday would be declared on Holy Thursday, what exactly is meant by the phrase ‘assembly ban’ and whether religious services would be banned entirely in churches. .
The first two questions caused confusion as the information that appeared Tuesday was vaguely worded.
The intention to ban religious rites during the most important Christian holiday was criticized by Church leaders and the Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer.
Delphi recalls that the German Chancellor and the leaders of the Land had not only agreed to extend the current containment measures, including the closure of cultural, sports and leisure facilities, until April 18, but also to tighten the quarantine measures from 1 to 5th of April.
“It just came to our attention then. The number of cases is growing exponentially, intensive care beds are filling up again,” Merkel said Tuesday.
The British strain of COVID-19 is prevalent and spreading in Germany, the chancellor said.
“We are going through a new pandemic,” he added.
“Basically, we have a new virus … It is much more deadly, much more contagious and lasts longer,” Merkel said.
Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz told public broadcaster ZDF that “it would be fair to use the Easter period to apply the brakes.”
However, German patience is already weakened by the slow vaccination of the population, the delay in the start of massive rapid tests and the growing number of new COVID-19 cases that have not been stopped by months of restrictions. Public support for Merkel’s Christian Democrats Union (CDU) is the lowest per year.
The European Union’s largest economy will elect a new federal parliament in September and Merkel, who has been in power for 16 years, will resign.
The weekly Der Spiegel described the increasingly imposed restrictions by the government as a “scandal”, saying it was setting “completely wrong priorities” and should focus more on the vaccination campaign and testing strategy.
“This three-week quarantine rhythm confirms the suspicion that the federal government and the lands are simply trying to chase the game they lost,” wrote the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Dietmar Bartsch, a member of the left-wing Die Linke party at the time, said Tuesday that the chancellor and his ministers “should apologize to the citizens” for their wrong decisions.
Germany announced Tuesday that it had recorded 7,485 new infections the day before and that 250 previously infected patients have died. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the incidence in the last seven days is 108.1 cases per 100,000 cases. population.
In late February, restrictions on the coronavirus pandemic began to ease in Germany, with hairdressers and some stores allowed to open in March.
Merkel and the leaders of the Länder agreed in early March that the regional government would return the restrictions if the figure exceeds 100.
“It is absolutely correct that we are applying the emergency brakes,” Merkel said.
[ad_2]
