Why is Germany no longer Europe’s “good student” in the fight against the coronavirus?

Germany, which was the “good student” of Europe at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now in a worrying situation for not having imposed drastic measures in recent months.

The country broke its record for daily infections on Friday, with 33,777 new cases. Although according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the government body responsible for the control of infectious diseases, that figure included around 3,500 cases behind Thursday, marks a worrying rate of advance of the virus.

The RKI also detailed that the highest number of deaths in 24 hours was recorded on Wednesday with 952. The deaths associated with Covid-19 have thus increased to 25,640 in the country, and the total number of coronavirus infections detected in Germany stood at 1,471,238 cases since the start of the pandemic in February.

83% of intensive care beds are occupied, according to RKI.

Praised before the summer for its flexibility, the German federal system is now in the crosshairs.

Angela Merkel, a hard line against the virus, lacks the power to impose measures on the 16 states and regions in their regular negotiations. And it faces stiff resistance from traders and businessmen, as well as repeated protests in streets across the country against the restrictions.

Regional governments against Merkel

According to the political leaders themselves, the current situation started in October, when regions clashed with the federal government, which wanted to toughen measures against the virus.

Experts have called for a three-week “lockdown” in November to keep the infection rate below 50 per 100,000.

And the health authorities, supported by Merkel, wanted to minimize contact between young people and isolate people with colds.

But many federal states, eager to see their economies recover and concerned about the anti-jugular movement, refused.

The Courts have also struck down accommodation and travel restrictions during the holidays autumn.

The head of government, whose popularity continues to increase, said she was “dissatisfied” but could not impose anything.

“This is probably the biggest political miscalculation of the year,” the weekly said on Saturday. The mirror.

Despite the closure of bars, restaurants and cultural venues, only six federal states have reduced the impact since November 2.

The risk of holidays

Often caricatured as disciplined, the Germans this time did not replicate the spring efforts (boreal) against the virus.

This is the case of mulled wine stands, a tradition before the Christmas holidays, which attract crowds.

They also avoided the closure of restaurants and bars thanks to take-out sales.

“When locking the spring, we reduced the contacts by 63%. So far, we have only been able to reduce contacts by 43%, which is simply not enough, ”explains virologist Christian Drosten.

The RKI estimates that the effective reduction in contacts should be 60%.

An anti-covid application has also shown its limits. Although it was downloaded by 23.5 million people, less than half of positive users reported its contagion.

Sprouts in various regions

The situation is particularly dramatic in parts of the former East Germany, particularly Saxony and Thuringia, where infection rates reached 407 and 255 on Thursday, above the federal average (179.2).

Apart from the Bavarian district of Regen, the most affected in Germany, the cities where the virus is most active, such as Görlitz or Bautzen, are all in Saxony. Its incidence rate is greater than 600/100 000.

After criticizing the government’s “hysteria”, Saxony’s conservative leader Michael Kretschmer had to admit that the pandemic had been “underestimated” and imposed emergency restrictions.

Coincidence or not, in this region the anti-mask movement is very active and the far right is deeply rooted.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more epidemics in nursing homes,” said RKI President Lothar Wieler.

In Berlin alone, the number of residents who tested positive doubled from mid-November to more than 2,000, according to the capital’s Senate.

87.2% of people who died from covid-19 in Germany were over 69 years old, according to the Statista Institute.

Across the country, institutions are alarmed by the lack of staff this does not allow for rapid testing and isolation of residents and caregivers.

Only 17% of health workers consider that the detection measures applied to them are sufficient, according to the Diaconia federation.

Source: AFP and DPA

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