Angela Merkel announced on Wednesday evening the extension of most sanctions against Kövid to Germany by 7 March, despite growing public discontent that forced her to make some concessions. Non-food businesses, restaurants, cafes, museums and even sports facilities will remain closed beyond the scheduled date of 14 February, “given the uncertainty about the spread of the virus,” the Chancellor reported after a meeting. Topics with representatives from 16 regional states of the country. She nonetheless indicated that the hairdressing salons would be able to reopen on March 1, provided that a strict sanitary protocol is adopted, and that schools can do just that, where local conditions allow.

Welcoming that transition figures have been “improving” in recent weeks, Merkel justified the expansion of sanctions, some of which were put in place at the beginning of November, most recently of South African and British variants Due to the spread, is considered more infectious. “We have this much uncertainty about the mutation. We should be very clear: if we don’t get better traceability, it will (…) take over, it might be too early that we have one again Exponential growth “of cases, he warned. Ms Merkel also indicated that she is “currently sharing an area of ​​European territory” with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz “to share (his) concern about the mutation of the South African virus in Tyrol, a border area of ​​Barrol” Where met with this edition. Is the most common. However, Merkel said the relative improvement in recent data “shows that the measures put here, often too strict and too harsh, are now bearing fruit”. In recent times, Germany has recorded an average of about 8,000 new Kovid-19 infections per day. “But we want to avoid a third wave” and this can only be done “if all contact cases can be detected,” the Chancellor explained. The outcome of today’s negotiations reflects conflicts that excite the country on the merits of Kovid’s anti-sanctions, at a time when dissatisfaction of the German population against them continues to grow

According to a YouGov poll published this week, the degree of acceptance of sanctions has fallen from 65% to 50% in early January. But after more than five hours of conversation, Angela Merkel, who desperately pleads to fight the virus, is able to impose her line.

To achieve her ends, she still had to make concessions: she initially wanted extensions by 14 March and not only by 7. March. And she wanted to wait until March to present the possibility of schools reopening. On these two points, it had to give in to the pressure of those areas, Länder, which have the upper hand on health and educational issues.

Angela Merkel defended the German federal system in spite of everything “even though it is sometimes complicated” Wednesday evening. The government and 16 regional chief executives, who have come together for a new meeting of this type on 3 March, have also agreed to tighten the resilience criteria for the future. Subsequently, it is only when the event in 7 days does not exceed 35 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants – so far against the threshold of 50 – that economic and cultural activity will be able to return to normal. This incidence rate reached for the first time on Wednesday, three months 68.