BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday dropped plans for a five-day closure in Germany at Easter, which had led to confusion and criticism. She called the idea a mistake and apologized to the Germans.
Merkel announced the decision after holding a hastily organized video conference on Wednesday with Germany’s 16 state governors responsible for imposing and lifting restrictions. The same group had come up with the unexpected plan for deeper restrictions at Easter, announced early Tuesday.
The plan was to make Thursday next week – the day before Good Friday – a ‘rest day’, with all shops closed, and to leave supermarkets open only on Easter Saturday. Given that Friday and Monday are already holidays, that would have resulted in a five-day shutdown of public life – on top of the existing lockdown restrictions, which were extended until April 18.
The plan had raised many questions about logistical details, which went unresolved, and was also criticized for not having been publicly debated before surfacing into the wee hours of Tuesday after lengthy haggling.
“The idea of an Easter freeze was conceived with the best of intentions, as we urgently need to succeed in delaying and reversing the third wave of the pandemic,” Merkel said. “However, the idea … was a mistake – there were good reasons for it, but it couldn’t be implemented well enough in this short time.”
“This mistake is only my fault,” she told reporters. “An error must be called a mistake, and above all it must be corrected – and if possible, it must be done on time.”
“At the same time, of course, I know that this whole issue is creating more uncertainty – I deeply regret that and I apologize to all citizens,” she said.
Infections in Germany have risen again as the more contagious variant of the virus first discovered in Britain has become dominant in the country.
Germany has recorded more than 75,000 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic a year ago. The country’s disease control center also reported 15,815 new cases of infection in the past 24 hours on Wednesday – a week ago, there were 13,435 new cases.
Merkel said that, even without the Easter halt, the decisions she has made with state governors provide a “framework” for pushing back the new wave of coronavirus infections.
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