Merkel is aiming for another four weeks of lockdown in Blow to Germany

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Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed keeping Germany’s lockdown restrictions in place for another four weeks after the Covid-19 cases rose above levels that could prompt government action to avoid overburdening the healthcare system.

The plan would extend the existing curbs through April 18, according to a Chancellery design seen by Bloomberg. Merkel and regional heads of government will discuss the proposals Monday during talks on how to proceed with the lockdown amid an upward curve of infections in Europe’s largest economy.

With much of Europe heading for its Easter holidays in late March, the draft suggests mandatory quarantines and Covid tests for travelers returning to Germany, while indicating that officials have not yet reached an agreement on that measure.

For hard-hit areas in Germany, other possible curbs where a final decision is pending include a 5am curfew and school and childcare closures if teachers and students cannot get tested twice a week.

Cases in Germany are on the rise again after authorities began relaxing restrictions in late February and drafted a plan to phase out the curbs. That plan hinges on the infection trend, pushing the stakes higher for Monday’s talks after the number of cases soared in recent days.

National seven-day rate of infections per 100,000 people rose to 103.9, Robert Koch Institute health agency said reported Sunday, the highest since Jan. 26. Data from Johns Hopkins University showed that the number of cases in Germany increased by 24,034 in the 24 hours to Sunday, compared to 10,568 a week earlier.

The resurgent pandemic has prompted some health experts to warn that hospital intensive auto units could be overwhelmed within a few weeks if the exponential growth in the number of cases continues. On Sunday, the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care rose to 3,056, the highest in nearly a month.

Resurgent outbreak

The spread of the coronavirus in Germany has accelerated in recent days

Source: Robert Koch Institute

Germany uses incidence as a measure of the spread of Covid-19. If it exceeds 100 in a particular region for three consecutive days, an “emergency brake” facility allows authorities to tighten lockdown measures again. That threshold was crossed in 9 of 16 federal states on Sunday, prompting some regional leaders to demand uniform national measures for virus hotspots.

“We have an instrument that works: the emergency brake. It must be applied consistently across Germany, ”Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder said in an interview to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. “Otherwise it will be a toothless tiger.”

Regional leaders expressed differing views on what to do in the run-up to the upcoming Easter holidays when asked by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Reiner Haseloff, Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, said people should be able to take holidays within the boundaries of their own region. Thuringia Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow begged people to avoid all holidays.

“Anyone who believes you can open entire holiday regions without testing in the current phase of the pandemic doesn’t know what’s going on,” Ramelow told the paper.

Incidence: Nine States Above Threshold

Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union was defeated two regional elections this month. The stuttering pace of vaccine rollout, irritation over the lockdown restrictions in place since late last year, and a growing scandal over claims that some conservative lawmakers took advantage of the pandemic have all negatively impacted its popularity.

Still, the Chancellor prepared the public for unpopular decisions at Monday’s meeting.

“We are seeing exponential growth,” she said Friday. “Unfortunately we will have to use the emergency brake.”

Chancellery design updates suggesting locking through April 18th.