Merkel draws up plans to relax lockdown after April 19
Germany has drawn up a list of
steps, including mandatory mask-wearing in public, limits on gatherings and the
rapid tracing of infection chains, to help enable a phased return to normal
life after its coronavirus lockdown is set to end on April 19.
A draft action plan compiled by the
Interior Ministry and seen by Reuters on Monday, says the measures should be
enough to keep the average number of people infected by one person below 1 even
as public life is allowed gradually to resume.
Germany has been under lockdown,
with restaurants and most shops closed, since March 22. With the impact of
lockdown all but certain to tip Europe's largest country into recession this
year, policymakers are anxious to see normal life resume.
The document envisages a staged return
to normality, backed by mechanisms that will make it possible to track more
than 80% of people with whom an infected person had contact within 24 hours of
diagnosis. Infected people and those they had contact with will be quarantined,
either at home or in hotels.
The document assumes the pandemic
will last until 2021.
In return, shops will be allowed to
reopen, as well as schools in select regions, though strict social-distancing
measures will still be in place.
Strict border controls will be relaxed,
but large events and private parties will remain forbidden.
As soon as enough protective masks
are available, it will be made compulsory to wear them on trains and in buses
as well as in factories and public buildings.
