Merkel Warned of a Possible Second Wave of Coronavirus after Lockdown Easing

Angela Merkel urged not to abolish lockdown measures too quickly and on a large scale. With the help of the lockdown, much has been achieved, but it is still far from overcoming the crisis, she said. Germany has not yet surpassed the peak of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. On the first day of the lockdown weakening, the head of the German government urged the people of the country to remain extremely cautious. “We cannot imagine ourselves completely safe for a second, but must remain vigilant and disciplined,” she said at a press conference in Berlin on Monday, April 20, after an anti-crisis government meeting. In the case of a hasty weakening of measures to limit contacts in Germany, the number of infections could again increase sharply, Merkel warned. She emphasized that with the help of the lockdown, much was achieved and the basic reproductive number R0 was reduced to below 1.0 (this means that ten infected people infect less than ten other people. - Ed.). In addition, according to the chancellor, the number of new infections was lower than the number of recovered for several days. The crisis is still a long way from being overcome At the same time, Merkel recalled that Germany was only at the beginning of the pandemic and was still far from overcoming the crisis. In this regard, she appealed to the authorities of the federal states responsible for lockdown measures and urged them not to make hasty and comprehensive decisions on their easing. The gradual rejection of the restrictive measures, which the German government and the land authorities agreed last week, should be carried out as carefully as possible, Merkel believes. “Going too fast (in quarantine removal. - Ed.) could be a mistake,” she said. At the same time, Merkel emphasized that she was aware of the difficult situation in which many citizens, in particular parents, especially those raising children alone, artists, owners of hotels, restaurants and shops, found themselves because of the lockdown. “This pandemic requires a lot from all of us,” she admitted and noted that it was in this situation that people should continue to tackle the crisis through tough measures. The possibility of a new lockdown According to Merkel, there should not be a new lockdown. But it will be needed again if the number of new cases grows exponentially again. Therefore, the goal is to consistently keep the reproductive number R0 below 1.0 and carefully monitor the infection chains, she said. To this end, 105 mobile teams will be created and trained in the near future, which will help local authorities in identifying people who have contacted the coronavirus infected, Merkel said. In response to a question about new assistance programs for individual industries, the Chancellor pointed out the need to create an overall picture after the support is provided. On April 22, possible further assistance measures will be discussed at a meeting of the coalition committee, she noted. Loosening lockdown in Germany After the Easter holidays in Germany, a gradual easing of quarantine measures began. In particular, it was decided to open stores with a sales area of ​​up to 800 square meters. The area limit does not apply to bookstores, as well as bicycle and car sales centers. In Berlin, Brandenburg, and Saxony, graduate students return to school to prepare and pass exams, and in a number of lands classes resume in the fourth (graduate) primary school grades. Universities were allowed to conduct exams, but it was decided to open libraries, archives and laboratories only in compliance with strict sanitary standards. In Saxony, religious services are renewed involving no more than 15 parishioners. According to the Robert Koch Institute, the total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections detected in Germany exceeded 140 thousand, 4.4 thousand people died from the effects of the infection. Over the past day, 1.8 thousand new cases of coronavirus appeared in the country.