Covid-19: Germany will begin a gradual deconfinement
German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a press conference on Wednesday March 4 after a meeting with regional leaders on the follow-up to the health strategy.
REUTERS - POOL
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The meeting was eagerly awaited by the Germans as restrictive measures against the second wave of Covid-19 were put in place before Christmas.
They have borne fruit, but the figures for new infections are now stagnant.
Still, many, including politicians, were calling for a concrete plan towards easing.
They won their case.
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With our correspondent in Berlin,
Pascal Thibaut
“
Spring 2021 will be different from what we experienced a year ago.
Angela Merkel wanted to boost the morale of the troops on Wednesday March 4 by speaking of "
hopes
" and "a
new phase
" in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.
After a marathon conference of more than 9 hours with the 16 presidents of the States-regions, a deconfinement plan was presented.
The pressure was mounting and more and more officials wanted a prospect of an end
to the crisis to
be outlined.
Restrictions extended until the end of March at least
The current restrictive measures are extended until the end of the month, but step by step, locally and depending on the evolution of the number of infections, they can be relaxed for non-essential businesses, museums, sports, places cultural.
But a further tightening of measures may take place in the event of a deterioration of the situation.
Angela Merkel mentioned, despite the risk of the more contagious British variant, two positive factors: the protection thanks to vaccines of the older more vulnerable.
The AstraZeneca vaccine will soon be given to people over 65.
General practitioners will be involved in the vaccination campaign at the end of the month.
And rapid tests need to be used more widely, especially do-it-yourself ones.
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