German Chancellor Angela Merkel takes off her face mask when she arrives for the National Integration Summit at the Chancellery in Berlin on October 19, 2020.
FABRIZIO BENSCH | AFP | Getty Images
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday reversed plans for an Easter coronavirus blockade amid criticism from experts and officials over the move.
Plans called for strict locking up of the country during the Easter holidays, which would close all shops and churches from April 1-5.
“We must try to slow down the third wave of the pandemic. Yet it was a mistake,” Merkel said at a press conference, according to German news outlet Deutsche Welle. “Ultimately, I bear the final responsibility.”
“It is now important that I say it here. An error must be called a mistake and above all it must be corrected, preferably in time,” she added, the news agency said.
Merkel’s comments come after sharp criticism that a plan devised earlier this week with regional leaders to impose a strict lockdown during the Easter period to help stop a third wave of coronavirus cases currently seen in Germany has largely been driven by more contagious variants of the virus.
Critics of the move, including health experts and business executives, said the closure could do more harm than good, particularly plans to keep supermarkets and supermarkets open for a limited time during the holidays – a move likely to cause crowds to gather. Others question the lost working hours and wages that the move would entail.
“It was well-founded, but it wasn’t really doable in such a short amount of time,” Merkel said on Wednesday, reflecting on the original lockdown proposal. “Too many questions, from missing wages to wasted time in factories and facilities, could not be answered in time.”
It is a rare turnaround from a leader who is considered the figurehead of Europe and a steady hand in times of crisis. It is also a further signal that Germany, a country lauded for its first response to the pandemic, is beginning to feel the pressure of tough decisions to be made as the pandemic continues to raise new challenges and concerns.
When the pandemic emerged in Europe in early 2020, Germany demonstrated its ability to quickly test, detect and isolate early cases of the virus, helping to stop its spread. The modern healthcare network also helped prevent as many deaths as in its continental neighbors.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, there have been nearly 2.7 million cases and more than 75,000 deaths in Germany. This compares to the UK’s 4.3 million cases and more than 126,000 deaths.
The country had recently started relaxing lockdown measures, which allowed schools to reopen in February and allow some non-essential stores to allow customers back in earlier this month. Like other European countries, it counted on the rollout of coronavirus vaccines to slowly reopen its economy, the largest in Europe.
However, the roll-out of vaccinations in the EU has not gone according to plan, as Germany, a country known for its organizational skills, negatively surprised experts with its slow program.
Germany is not alone in having to change plans around Easter; Italy will reintroduce a national lockdown for the second year in a row, while Paris and other parts of France will again be partially blocked.