Germany expected to extend lockdown as Merkel to meet with premiers

Berlin (dpa) – Germany is widely expected to extend its lockdown on Tuesday, when Chancellor Angel Merkel is scheduled to hold a video conference with the country’s 16 state premiers.

The lockdown, which has forced the nationwide closure of non-essential shops and schools, as well as bars, restaurants and leisure facilities, was initially to stay in place until January 10.

There is reportedly broad agreement among the state administrations to extend it until the end of the month.

The sweeping restrictions, which also include a rule limiting gatherings to a maximum of five people from two households, was brought into place in mid-December after a partial lockdown failed to halt the exponential spread of the virus.

Daily coronavirus infection figures have dropped over the festive period – despite some relaxation of the restrictions on gatherings – but officials have warned that the trend could be down to fewer tests being conducted over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

On Tuesday, the nation’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control recorded 11,897 new infections and 944 deaths over the last 24-hour period.

Overall, Germany has confirmed 1,787,410 cases of coronavirus so far, including 35,518 deaths.

At their first conference of the year, Merkel and the premiers are expected to discuss two controversial issues: schools and vaccinations.

State education ministers called on Monday for schools to be allowed to reopen in stages depending on the situation in individual regions – but the details of that plan have yet to be sketched out.

Germany’s vaccination drive has also come in for criticism in recent days as opposition parties and Merkel’s own Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners question why other countries have made further progress in administering the jab.

According to the latest available data from the RKI, dated Monday, 265,986 people have received their first dose of the vaccine in Germany so far, out of a population of 83 million.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, outgoing leader of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), accused the SPD of making “a cheap attempt at an election campaign in the middle of the pandemic,” ahead of national polls set for September.

Critics have claimed that the government ordered fewer vaccines from BioNTech and Pfizer than offered and have urged the German government to put more pressure on industry to ramp up production.

Less controversial is the question of whether to extend the current lockdown: In a YouGov poll commissioned by dpa, a significant majority of respondents spoke out in favour of this.

Forty-one per cent supported an unchanged continuation of the measures, while another 24 per cent wanted to see them intensified further. Just 17 per cent backed a relaxation of the rules, while 11 per cent said they wanted to see the lockdown lifted completely.