Forget to beat Covid-19. Europe is preparing to live with it.

The battle against Covid-19 is shifting into long-term, low-intensity mode in Europe, as countries like Germany, Italy and France shift from researching to end the pandemic to preparing to live with it .

Governments are developing plans for recall campaigns, mask wear, frequent testing and limited social distancing measures to control the virus before the region’s third pandemic winter.

They are helped by a public which has shown itself to be relatively tolerant of social obstacles. Unlike the United States, where some states were quick to drop restrictions amid optimism that the virus was receding, the pandemic was never fully expected to be over in Europe, where infections have spiked. increased sporadically in spring and summer.

Germany, which has never fully lifted pandemic restrictions, said this week that only people who have been vaccinated, those who have recovered from an infection or people with a recent negative Covid-19 test could make it to the restaurants, hospitals and other indoor places unless infections fall below a very low level. Masks will remain compulsory in confined spaces and on public transport indefinitely, even for vaccinated persons.

In Berlin, where the school year started in August, children are required to wear masks in all school premises and are tested for infections several times a week. This week, the government wrote to families of children eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine urging them to get vaccinated.