BERLIN | Compulsory wearing of medical masks, strong exhortation to telework: Germany is preparing, Tuesday, to tighten the restrictions linked to the COVID-19 epidemic in the face of fear of the spread of new, more contagious variants.
• Read also: All developments in the COVID-19 pandemic
For the second time in three weeks, Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to consult, in the afternoon, with the leaders of the 16 regional states for a new turn of the screw.
The meeting, initially scheduled for the end of the month, was brought forward because of fears related to mutations in the virus and worrying statistics on contamination, despite the closure of schools and “non-essential” businesses for a month.
Among the arbitrations in sight between regions and the federal state: traffic restrictions while no nationwide curfew has ever been decreed so far.
Berlin should also urge companies to make massive use of teleworking for their employees.
A large number of Germans continue to go to their workplace, much more, according to the government, than during the first epidemic wave.
If the hypothesis of a shutdown of public transport, a time put forward by the press, is ruled out, the authorities also seem determined to impose the wearing of FFP2 masks in buses, trams, subways and all transport .
This new battery of measures would be in addition to vast restrictions already in force: from the closure of schools and non-food businesses since mid-December to that of restaurants, cafes, sports and cultural venues for two and a half months.
“Flattening”
The drastic measures decreed just before Christmas to slow the spread of the virus are nevertheless starting to take effect, according to Berlin.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert saw in the latest published data “a flattening of the infection curve”.
“We are currently seeing a slight decline in the number of infections” and patients hospitalized in intensive care units “to around less than 5,000,” he said.
However, he insisted on the fact that the number of new contaminations “remained significantly too high”.
On the alert, Berlin is particularly worried about the importation of variants of the virus that are much more contagious, which have appeared in Britain and South Africa.
“This is a risk that politicians must take into account, sooner or later,” added Mr. Seibert.
Record of deaths
On Monday, the Robert-Koch health watch institute announced 7,141 new cases in 24 hours, but these data are generally insignificant due to the closure of regional administrations over the weekend.
On Thursday, the number of deaths in 24 hours recorded a level not reached since the appearance of the first cases of SARS-CoV-2 in the country almost a year ago, at 1,244 dead.
The leader of Bavaria, Markus Söder, champion of draconian measures, advocated an extension of the confinement “until mid-February”.
The second epidemic wave that swept through the country from October caused much more devastation than the first. In total, Germany has listed more than two million contaminations since the start of the pandemic.
In addition, discontent rises among a rather conciliatory population until the fall, but which is now impatient with the duration of the restrictions.
No reopening date is looming for restaurants, cafes, museums, cinemas, sports and leisure venues which are paying a heavy price.
On the economic front, the time is also for concern after a year 2020 marked by a historic recession (decline of 5% of GDP), although less abysmal than expected.
And if the vaccination campaign was organized in record time, criticism is fired in the face of the supposed slowness of its implementation, fueled by the kicks of the Social Democrats, government partners of the conservatives.
Since the first injection on December 26, some 1.14 million people have been vaccinated, or 1.4% of the population.