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MERKEL REASSURES GERMANS EMERGENCY BRAKE ONLY WAY TO BREAK COVID 3RD WAVE
- By The Financial District
- Apr 25, 2021
- 2 min read
Chancellor Angela Merkel said that judging from the experience of other European countries there was no alternative to the "tough" coronavirus law that went into effect across Germany on Saturday, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.
The law, known as the "emergency brake" imposes uniform coronavirus restrictions, such as a night-time curfew, on areas where infections are rapidly spreading.
It kicks in when the infection rate in a given district, as measured by the number of cases during the past week per 100,000 people, reaches more than 100 for three consecutive days.
Wide swathes of Germany exceed the limit, from rural communities to big cities like Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Munich.
"No country that has managed to break the third wave of the pandemic and then relax has done so without tough measures such as night-time social restrictions," Merkel said in her weekly video message. That is why Germany "cannot avoid the measures," she said.
The law, approved this week by parliament, is hotly debated as it lets the federal government supersede state-level decisions, a key change to the relationship between the federal and state governments.
Merkel argued that Germany had to end its patchwork response to the pandemic, and said the move was especially needed now as the country tries to tame the third wave. The measures include closures of cultural spaces, a slight tightening of contact restrictions, and a 10 pm to 5 am curfew, the most controversial element.
Schools must also switch to distance learning if the incidence rate exceeds 165, new hygiene rules apply to non-essential businesses, and restaurants are closed apart from takeaway offerings. The Virchowbund, a professional association of practicing physicians in Germany, sees the new regulations as a cause for optimism. "I see a chance that the third wave is about to be broken," chairman Dirk Heinrich told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung.
