Angela Merkel on Wednesday March 3 accepted a gradual unlocking of the anti-Covid system in Germany -

Markus Schreiber / AP / SIPA

Germany will gradually deconfin itself.

Wednesday, After more than nine hours of bitter negotiations, Angela Merkel and the leaders of the country's 16 regional states reached an agreement on a timetable for easing the partial containment measures in place since the end of last year .

This decision comes seven months before the legislative elections when the anti-Covid device is only supported today by a third of Germans, against two thirds in early January, according to a YouGov poll published this week.

The German Chancellor even found opponents within her own government.

"A new phase"

"Today, we can speak of hope and hope," said the German Chancellor at a press conference, considering that her country was now entering "a new phase" in the fight against the epidemic. possible in particular by accelerating vaccinations.

Germany will thus authorize the AstraZeneca vaccine to over 65s, announced the Chancellor.

The time between the administration of two doses will also be lengthened, to allow the vaccination of more patients.

Life in slow motion

Life will however continue to slow down, with most restrictions extended to at least March 28 to counter the rise in cases and the spread of the British variant, which now accounts for 46% of infections.

Private meetings will however be possible, from March 8, between two homes, provided they do not exceed five people in total.

Bookshops, florists and driving schools, which have already reopened in some Länder, will once again be able to welcome visitors across the country.

The incidence threshold of 50 per 100,000 finally retained

The Chancellor gave in to the German regions about an incidence threshold of 35 per 100,000 below which future relaxations would be granted.

The threshold of 50, less restrictive, was finally retained to pave the way, from the end of March, to reopening in outdoor catering, cultural and sports sectors.

On the other hand, severe restrictions will be reintroduced above 100.

However, there is still some way to go to reach the level of 50 in the long term, with the incidence rate rising to 64 on Wednesday, a slight increase in recent days.

Only one region, Thuringia (ex-GDR), records a rate above 100. But only two have an incidence of less than 50 in a country where the Covid has killed more than 70,000 people.

Massive antigen tests

The government's strategy of openness also wants to build on the massive practice of antigenic tests, an area in which Germany still lacks efficiency.

The government thus promises the availability of these rapid tests, expected shortly on the shelves of drugstores, so that by the beginning of April, the entire population can be tested regularly and free of charge.

All school and nursery staff, as well as students, will also be offered free antigenic tests every week.

Companies will be involved and will have to offer tests to their employees who go to their workplace, a measure that does not delight professional organizations.

An end of mandate tarnished by the controversy over the management of the epidemic

With seven months of legislative elections which will turn the page on the Merkel era, the debates on the strategy to be followed have taken an eminently political turn.

And the end of the chancellor's mandate risks being tarnished by the growing controversy over the failures of anti-epidemic management.

The opposition but also the Social Democrats, members of the coalition led by the Chancellor, no longer hesitate to let go.

Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, also a Social Democratic candidate for chancellery, does not lose an opportunity to castigate the ineffectiveness of the vaccination campaign in Germany, where 4.4 million people (5.3% of the population) had received at least one dose of a vaccine on Wednesday.

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  • Covid 19

  • epidemic

  • Confinement

  • Germany

  • Health

  • Angela Merkel

  • Coronavirus