Merkel thinks of easing containment amid third wave

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned the country is in the midst of a third wave of coronavirus infections and that measures to reopen schools and businesses will need to be weighed with caution as the country debates how to exit lockdown and relieve its weakened economy.

The end of personal distance restrictions must be accompanied by more tests and vaccinationsMerkel told parliamentarians from the conservative bloc led by the Christian Democratic Union on Tuesday during a video conference, according to a participant in the call. Chancellor warned that the UK variant of the virus was already spreading in Germany, which threatens the success of the country’s containment efforts to date.

Helge Braun, Merkel’s chief of staff, told lawmakers that the mutated virus could quickly lead to an increase in infections, and that the so-called incidence rate, a key metric for daily confirmed cases, would rise to 800. The incidence rate in Germany is currently 60, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute, and Merkel set a rate of 50 as a minimum to remove some restrictions, and possibly lower them further to a rate below 35.

Federal and state officials have offered a variety of plans to get out of the current lockdown, creating some confusion over how to handle the pandemic. Health Minister Jens Spahn was forced to abandon the plan to offer free trials from March in the face of opposition from heads of state. Merkel will discuss the testing strategies at her next meeting with these officials on March 3.

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