Situation-dependent relief: Germany extends closure with opening strategy – News



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  • In view of the high number of infections, the closure in Germany will last until March 28.
  • However, depending on the infection situation, there should be open options, that has been decided by Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the state prime ministers.
  • A step-by-step opening strategy with a built-in emergency brake was agreed: if individual loosenings lead to a sharp increase in the number of infections in a region, all reliefs that have already been performed are automatically canceled there.

Merkel later said they were on the threshold of a new phase of the pandemic. “Now the task of politics is to take the next steps wisely. There should be steps towards openness and, at the same time, steps that should not push us back in the pandemic. “In Europe there are many examples of a” dramatic third wave, “said the Chancellor.” We must not fool ourselves, this danger it also exists for us. “

There should be steps towards openness and, at the same time, steps that should not push us back in the pandemic.

But Merkel emphasized: “The spring of 2021 will be different from the spring of a year ago.” Today, there are two important partners in the fight against the pandemic: vaccines and expanded testing options.

Table with opening steps

Legend:

bundesregierung.de

The Chancellor made it clear that the vaccination campaign must be accelerated. Free rapid tests, at least one per week for each citizen, must also be carried out from next week. The federal and state governments also expect companies to participate in testing as a contribution to society as a whole.

We beat the second wave and the third wave is rolling.

Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) warned: “We have defeated the second wave and the third is underway.” The danger and the dimension of the third wave depend on each individual. “That’s why we have to be very careful not to go carelessly into the next big shutdown.” That is why they have now decided on “a triad of caution, trust and responsibility.”

The plan for new openings in Germany

Open the person boxClose the person box

There may be more restricted openings in regions where the incidence of just 100 new infections per 100,000 population is below the seven-day incidence. In addition to “shop by appointment” offers in retail, museums, galleries, zoos, botanical gardens and memorials can be opened for visitors who have booked an appointment. Individual sports alone or in pairs, as well as group sports of up to ten children up to 14 years old in the outdoor area, must also be allowed. With a seven-day stable incidence of less than 50, the requirements are dropped or weakened. So non-contact sport in small groups outdoors should be possible again.

According to the decision, the next opening steps will depend on whether the previous stage has not led to a deterioration of the incidence of seven days for 14 days. Then it comes first to the opening of outdoor catering, cinemas, theaters, opera houses and concerts, as well as indoor non-contact sports and outdoor contact sports. In the next step, there are more sporting and leisure events on the agenda. The following also applies here: up to an incidence of 100, there should be higher requirements, such as daily testing or mandatory reserve, which are skipped with a seven-day incidence of up to 50 new infections.

Already on March 8, following the resolutions, severely limited private contact options will be relaxed. Then again it will be possible to have private meetings between your own home and another home, but limited to a maximum of five people. Depending on the incidence, the additional rules will be relaxed in the regions.

After the first openings in schools and hairdressers, bookstores, florists and garden centers will follow in a second step. These are already open in the individual federal states; now, according to the resolution of the federal-state round, they will be allocated nationwide to retail for daily needs. The prerequisite is that the hygiene concepts and the customer limit are met.

Criticism of the decisions made by the trade and the Greens

The Retail Trade Association (HDE) was disappointed. The stable incidence of 50 required to open stores is not in sight across the board. The thus largely closed
Retail Businesses Expected to End March Compared to 2019
lose another ten billion euros in sales.

Environmental leader Robert Habeck is also disappointed by the federal and state resolutions. “As a citizen, you feel abandoned,” he says on Deutschlandfunk. “You are relying on hope, but that is not a strategy,” Habeck continued to criticize. It has to be tested first, then there could be openings.

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