Germany is already seeing the end of the restrictions due to covid-19. At least the most cumbersome, which require show documentation at the entrance of any store and to consume in cafes and restaurants. Indoor masks, on the other hand, will continue to accompany the Germans during the spring. “Today is a special day,” said Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz at the start of the press conference in which he announced a three-phase de-escalation plan that will progressively eliminate restrictions until March 20. “Many citizens will agree with me: after two long years, we deserve things to improve and it seems that this is what lies ahead,” he assured.
Scholz wanted to send a message of “optimism and hope”, but also warned that the pandemic is not over. “The next variant may be just around the corner,” he assured, adding that we have to start thinking about next fall and winter. By then the vaccination rate in Germany should be much higher than it is today (74% of the population is immunized; one of the lowest percentages in Western Europe), so encouraged those who have not been vaccinated to do it as soon as possible. Scholz reiterated that he is in favor of compulsory vaccination, which should be in Parliament but whose debate has been delayed until March.
Germany is still in the midst of the wave of the omicron variant, with very high numbers of infections, but it has just reached the peak and the accumulated incidence has chained five days in a row down. After the record figures of last week, the curve begins to descend, as the statistical models used by the authorities predicted in January. This Wednesday almost 220,000 cases and 247 deaths have been registered. The restrictions maintained by the country are among the strictest in the EU, with the covid passport being required for any indoor activity.
The weekly incidence is 1,400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (in Spain it is below 400), but the high number of cases has not had the same impact on hospitalization figures. The health system is holding up well, with approximately half the intensive care beds occupied than during the previous wave, between November and December, which forced the cancellation of scheduled interventions already transfer seriously ill patients due to lack of staff to care for them in hospitals in southern and eastern Germany.
In the first phase of the plan that the chancellor has agreed with the leaders of the 16 federated states, private meetings will be allowed without limit of participants. Until now, no more than 10 adults could gather. They will still need to be vaccinated or have recently had the disease. In states where restrictions on access to non-essential trade were still in force – such as Berlin, where the restriction is lifted on Friday – the covid passport will no longer be required. That is, the unvaccinated will be able to re-enter stores without restrictions.
In a second phase, starting on March 4, the unvaccinated will also be allowed to consume in bars and restaurants, although in this case they must present a negative test. they end like this restrictions on social life in public places with which Since November, the authorities have been putting pressure on the several million adults who have not yet been vaccinated. There are just over 10 million people over 18 years of age who have not been immunized and the efforts of recent months have barely borne fruit. Almost all new vaccinations are booster doses. As of March 4, hotels will also not require proof of vaccination to allow the stay. Nightlife and mass events will continue to exclude the unvaccinated.
On March 20, if the situation in the hospitals remains stable, “all the most far-reaching protection measures” will be withdrawn, Scholz announced, that is, all restrictions on access to public places and for private meetings. The obligation to work from home will also decline, although companies will be able to continue offering telecommuting to their employees, especially in open-plan offices. The mask will continue to be mandatory in closed places, including public transport.
The chancellor assured that Germany has weathered the coronavirus pandemic better than its neighbors, but found that the vaccination rate has to increase in the face of the next cold season. During the fourth wave, between November and December, the worst the country has experienced, Scholz announced compulsory vaccination and even anticipated that it would come into force between the end of February and the beginning of March. His plans have not been fulfilled. The coalition government that he chairs has not presented a bill and those who were going to take the political formations to the Bundestag are not yet ready, so a debate and a vote are not expected until March. The texts consider different possibilities, such as the general obligation to be vaccinated for all adults or only for those over 50 years of age. In any case, the need for a law is not pressing, the authorities and experts agree, and they do hope to have it ready by the fall.
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