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ANGELA MERKEL

German lockdown measures could last ‘until the end of May or mid-June’

Germany may be facing a much longer shutdown, as new federal measures could last until the end of May or middle of June, reported Berlin’s Tagesspiegel on Monday.

Published: 12 April 2021 15:09 CEST
German lockdown measures could last 'until the end of May or mid-June'
A closed restaurant in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, on April 1st. A curfew is in place in the city. Photo: DPA

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff Helge Braun (CDU) made it clear in a meeting with Germany’s 16 states on Sunday that the federal government could extend and strengthen current lockdown measures until the end of May or mid-June, according to the Tagesspiegel.

The move comes as part of a planned update to the Infection Protection Act, which aims to grant the federal government more control over regulations which previously were decided and enforced by the states.

READ ALSO: Germany to tighten national coronavirus law in bid to ‘create uniform rules’

According to a draft revision to the law, stricter measures would be put in place when there’s a 7-day incidence of over 100 new infections per 100,000 residents lasting for over three days, as well as automatically for a 7-day incidence of over 200. 

Based on the current infection rate around Germany, the government expects these measures to last several more weeks. The current shutdown, as decided on by Merkel and state leaders, was extended until April 18th at the last summit.

LATEST: Covid-19 infections in Germany rise above 3 million

What might the new measures look like?

If there’s a three-day long 7-day incidence of over 100, private gatherings would be restricted, there would be a nighttime curfew, and all businesses (with the exception of essential shops or businesses such as grocery stores) and cultural and recreational facilities would have to close again. Restaurants would remain closed except for take-out and delivery.

If the 7-day incidence rises above 200, schools and Kitas (daycare centres) would automatically be closed under the draft. State and local governments would no longer have any discretionary leeway.

READ ALSO: These are the new powers that Merkel plans to acquire in battle against pandemic

About half of all rural and urban districts in Germany currently have 7-day incidences over 100.

Since the measures would be decreed by law and not by ordinance, anyone who wants to challenge the decisions in court would only be able to do so through the Federal Constitutional Court. 

Several states have already argued that other criteria should be used in addition to the 7-day incidence value. 

In addition, there are calls not to close stores completely, but to allow “click and collect,” for example, a system which would allow people to shop by appointment only.

This is what the new draft measures in the Infection Protection Act specify:

  • Hard, regional lockdown if the 7-day incidence threshold of 100 is exceeded for three days
  • Private gatherings will be limited to members of a household and one other person
  • Curfews from 9pm to 5am, with exceptions for emergencies or work-related reasons
  • Sports will be very limited, with a maximum of two people
  • All businesses must also close – with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies, drugstores and gas stations.
  • Cultural and leisure facilities such as zoos, swimming pools, museums, etc. will also have to close
  • The catering trade will remain closed. Pick-up and delivery of food is allowed, however
  • If the incidence level is below the level of 100 again for three days, the measures can be waived. If it is above that for three days, they come back into effect
  • Schools and daycare centers may remain open only if the incidence is below 200. Even then, students may only attend classes if they test twice a week

OPINION: Germany has never had a real Covid lockdown

The government is aiming to rush the law change through the Bundestag this week so it’s not set in stone at this stage.

Member comments

  1. If only they’d put as much energy in organising vaccinations as they do in deciding how to restrict us even more – we’d all be vaccinated by now.

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COVID-19

Is the pandemic over in Germany?

As much of Germany lifts - or prepares to lift - the last remaining Covid-19 measures, intensive care units say Covid-19 admissions are no longer straining the system.

Published: 24 January 2023 09:00 CET
Is the pandemic over in Germany?

Despite a difficult winter of respiratory illnesses, intensive care units in Germany say Covid-19 admissions have almost halved. The number of cases having to be treated in the ICU has gone down to 800 from 1,500 at the beginning of this month.

“Corona is no longer a problem in intensive care units,” Gernot Marx, Vice President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, told the German Editorial Network. “A the moment, we don’t have to think every day about how to still ensure the care of patients, but how to actually run a service that can help.”

Marx said the drop has allowed them to catch up on many postponed surgeries.

The number of sick employees in hospitals is also falling, helping to relieve the pressure on personnel.

The easing pressure on hospitals correlates with the assessment of prominent virologist and head of the Virology department at Berlin’s Charite – Christian Drosten – who said in December that the pandemic was close to ending, with the winter wave being an endemic one.

German federal and state governments are now in the midst of lifting the last of the country’s pandemic-related restrictions. Free Covid-19 antigen tests for most people, with exceptions for medical personnel, recently ended.

READ ALSO: Free Covid-19 tests end in Germany

Six federal states – Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Thuringia, Lower Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein – have ended mandatory isolation periods for people who test positive for Covid-19.

Bavaria, Saxony-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein have ended the requirement to wear FFP2 masks on public transport, while Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia, and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania will follow suit on February 2nd.

At that time, the federal government will also drop its requirement for masks to be worn on long-distance trains. Labour Minister Hubertus Heil says that’s when he also intends to exempt workplaces – apart from medical locations – from a mask requirement.

READ ALSO: Germany to drop mask mandate in trains and buses from February 2nd

Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg will also end the requirement for patients to wear a mask in doctor’s offices. That’s a requirement that, so far, will stay in place everywhere else. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has also said that he thinks this requirement should remain. 

But some public health insurers and general practitioners are calling for a nationwide end to the obligation for wearing masks in doctor’s offices.

“The pandemic situation is over,” National Association of Statutory Health Physicians (KBV) Chair Andreas Gassen told the RND network. “High-risk patients aren’t treated in all practices. It should generally be left up to medical colleagues to decide whether they want to require masks in their practices.”

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