The coalition of the German Chancellor,

Angela Merke

l, reinforced its aid, both to the family and to companies and to the sectors most affected by the pandemic, to promote the recovery after the break due to the drastic and prolonged restrictions on public life.

"We are going to support many companies, to whose activity we owe, to promote their recovery after the crisis," said the Minister of Economy,

Peter Altmaier

, through a statement, after the agreements reached yesterday between the partners of the alliance of government.

The leaders of the three parties involved - the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its sister Social Christian Union of Bavaria (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) - agreed, in their first meeting of the year at the Chancellery, to extend support to sectors such as restoration and culture, as well as the family.

Among other measures, a

reduction of the value added tax -VAT- to 7% for bars and restaurants

was agreed

and until the end of 2022.

Last year, in the first wave of restrictions, a temporary reduction of this rate had already been approved from 19 to 16% to stimulate domestic demand.

The new reduction announced now only affects restaurants, "a sector particularly affected" by the pandemic, admits Altmaier.

Since November,

bars and restaurants

are closed

-which can only sell take away food-, as well as leisure and cultural life as a whole.

That closure was added in December that of non-essential businesses.

Along with this measure, other support was agreed to for small and medium-sized businesses, tax relief for the business community as a whole, a new package of support for culture -for 1,000 million euros, such as the one activated in 2020- and

an expansion of family assistance .

The new premium per child - 150 euros - follows that of 300 euros last year;

Likewise, a similar single payment is foreseen for the lowest income and recipients of social assistance, the co-presidents of the SPD, Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans advanced after the meeting

The coalition meeting held at the Chancellery was the first to be held this year and also the first since Armin Laschet, a representative of the centrist line and therefore of the continuist course with regard to Merkel, assumed the presidency of the CDU.

His agenda, eight months before the next general elections in Germany, was marked by the consequences of the closure of public life and the impatience or even frustration of the citizen due to the prolonged restrictions and delays in vaccination.

A new meeting of Merkel and regional leaders is scheduled for Wednesday next week to assess the situation of the pandemic and decide the next steps.

Decrease in infections and fear of mutations

In Germany, a

continuous decrease in infections

with covid-19

has been observed for almost two weeks

, although a high level of fatalities persists.

Both Merkel and her Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, have warned of the dangers derived from the new mutations.

The health authorities reported 14,211 new infections in the last 24 hours and 786 fatalities on Thursday.

On Thursday of last week, the new infections totaled 17,553 and the deaths amounted to 941.

The peak of infections in one day was registered on December 18 with 33,777 new infections, and the death peak on January 14, with 1,244 in 24 hours.

In Germany as a whole, the

cumulative incidence in seven days stands at 80.7

new cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The maximum level had been reached on December 22 with 197.6 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in a week.

The objective of the German Government is to reduce the incidence below 50, with which it hopes that all contagion chains can be traced again

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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