Merkel announces Germany cautiously start lifting the lockdown measures

The reference (Berlin)

Germany’s Angela Merkel is issuing a televised address and update on the government’s plans, after talks this afternoon with state government leaders and other relevant politicians from around Germany.

Germany’s Angela Merkel announced a plan to start easing lockdown measures, with some businesses and schools set to start working on May 4. At the same time, the social distancing is set to stay in place and Germany’s government will “strongly recommend” to people to wear face masks while grocery shopping or in public transport.

People in Germany would still be required to keep a 1.5 meters (5 feet) from each other and gather in groups no larger than two, unless they were members of the same household, she said.

Germany will reopen schools in early May and allow some of the currently closed retailers to open as well, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said. Social distancing measures will stay in place. Follow DW for the latest.

Addressing the nation, Germany’s Angela Merkel said the country would cautiously start lifting the lockdown measures, but warned that the government has little wiggle-room to avoid a resurgence of infections.

The health system in Germany is “not overwhelmed” despite a massive amount of work provided by medical workers, Angela Merkel said, with around 10,000 intensive care beds currently available. However, she described it as a “fragile interim success.”

Merkel stressed that the success we achieved in Germany is an average success and is subject to retreat at any time. Merkel added that the German health system worked stably and well during the Coruna virus epidemic.

On March 22, Merkel and the states decided to impose comprehensive restrictions on freedom of movement for a period of two weeks, before extending them later to April 19.

On the other hand, the Minister of Health in the Merkel government, Jans Span, announced that the federal and state governments can gradually seek to ease restrictions and measures in the Corona virus crisis. “We can take after the initial steps, but cautiously,” Span told a joint news conference with Prime Minister Hessen Volker-Buffet.

The leading Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases in Germany has announced a decline in the number of cases of coronavirus in Germany, which may give a strong indication of the success of the measures approved by the German government earlier. The confirmed number of HIV infection has reached 127,584 and the death toll is 3,254, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

Germany has extended its border controls until at least May 4. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer ordered the extension for Germany’s borders with Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark. It also applies to flights from Italy and Spain.