Here’s how Germany will reopen (gradually)
Merkel has shown the way (with a turning point compared to previous months), now the debate is on how much and how to reopen. Pierluigi Mennitti's article from Berlin
Germany also triggers the march of reopening: prudent, gradual, linked to the maintenance of safety and hygiene measures and above all to an intense testing action. But in the meantime it reopens. Not from today and not even from tomorrow. But from 7 March for sure. Angela Merkel, hitherto leader of the most rigid front in the increasingly agitated meetings of the crisis cabinet formed by the Chancellor herself and by the presidents of the Länder, was also convinced. "There is a justified desire for openness," he said during the videoconference meeting on Monday with the leaders of his party, a meeting from which in recent months there had always been concerns about the growth of infections and rumors about new restrictive measures. This time, from that meeting strictly behind closed doors, the indication of the turning point arrives. Germany is preparing to reopen, after a lockdown which, between the light version and the rigid version, has now lasted since the beginning of November.
The media reveal that from today a working group composed of experts from regions and central government, coordinated by the head of the Chancellery Helge Braun (the Undersecretary of State), will work on a package for the reopening that will form the basis of the meeting of the crisis cabinet of 3 March, which will discuss how to relax the current measures.
It will not be generalized reopening. After bending the curve of the second wave with difficulty, the infections have stabilized. But the spread of variants of the virus is frightening. The data provided in recent weeks by the Koch Institut indicate a substantial stability, but it has not been possible (except in some districts) to reach the incidence of 35 new cases in one week per 100,000 inhabitants which had been the threshold established by the Chancellor for trigger reopening. A level that is now considered unattainable (to date the national average is 60.5). The president of the Koch Institut Lothar Wieler was explicit: we are heading towards a third wave, the questions only concern how long it will be and how intense. It will therefore reopen gradually.
The Chancellor has imagined three sectors to be privileged for the recovery. First of all, the area of personal contacts, at the moment still restricted to the possibility of meeting with a single element outside the residential unit. This is an increasingly difficult measure to monitor, especially now that mild temperatures have replaced the freezing temperatures of previous weeks, prompting citizens to pour outside and fill streets and parks. The second is that of the school, which in some Länder has already restarted its engines, albeit partially. The third, perhaps the most awaited, concerns restaurants, group sports and cultural events and shows.
For now, not only the details are missing but also the guidelines, which will be set by the Sherpas of the working group. But the turnaround is significant. Merkel must also have felt the change of mood in public opinion, increasingly tired from the long closure phase and frustrated by the slowness of the vaccination campaign. With the forecast of being able to immunize 70-80% of Germans only after the summer, it becomes difficult – socially but now also economically – to manage a further phase of restrictions lasting many months. German aid to the trade sector has been generous, but bureaucratically complex and delays in disbursement fuel protests, in the face of payment deadlines that, on the contrary, do not delay.
Therefore, "an intelligent strategy of reopening" is needed, according to the quote attributed by the German media to the Chancellor herself. It should be noted that the change of strategy took place a few days after the public criticism of the new president of the CDU Armin Laschet, who had sharply contradicted Merkel's current management of the crisis by asking for a plan to ease restrictions unhooked by the numbers of incidences. As has happened on other occasions, Angela Merkel sniffed the air and decided to seize the turning point.
It will be, at least in the chancellor's hopes, a cautious relaxation, to be modeled and adapted according to the progress of the pandemic. Linked to the spread of sweeping tests, especially now that the authorities in charge are preparing to approve do-it-yourself systems, the possibility of resuming contact tracing and the use of more efficient masks (the general obligation of those FFP-2 or medical, as is already the case on public transport).
The current lockdown remains in effect until 7 March. But something has already reopened its doors in the meantime. These are the schools, albeit partially. Differences remain between the Länder, since education is a regional competence, but in general, schoolchildren of the first elementary grades, with halved and rotating classes, have returned to the schools and the tendency is towards a process of gradual reopening. All the more so since the federal government has decided to evaluate the possibility of anticipating the vaccination of school staff, which in the original plans was provided for in the third group (that of the over-60s, which would have meant vaccination in May-June).
The second restart is that of hairdressers, from 1 March. An expected date, it seems that most of the establishments have sold out reservations for the first few weeks. There is a desire to restart, even in catering, perhaps hoping to be able to create protected outdoor areas, hoping for a mild spring. And in the artistic and cultural sector, perhaps the most affected of all, where it was difficult to reach the many self-employed workers with adequate compensation. In recent weeks, some studies have been published that revealed the relative safety of environments such as theaters and museums, if equipped with adequate protection measures.
A new phase is opening up for Angela Merkel, to be managed with enormous attention. The pressures for a free all are enormous, especially as the issue has become even more ground-breaking between the two leaders of the Union, Laschet (Cdu) and Söder (Csu), competing for candidacy for the chancellery. But equally serious are the concerns of health experts about the risks of the third wave linked to variants of the virus. Never before is the great defeat by all of Europe in the vaccination race as evident as in this moment.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/ecco-come-la-germania-riaprira-con-gradualita/ on Tue, 23 Feb 2021 12:56:36 +0000.