BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday gave up plans for a five-day Easter shutdown in Germany, causing confusion and criticism. She called the idea a mistake and apologized to the Germans.
Merkel announced the decision after convening a hastily arranged video conference on Wednesday with the 16 German state governors, who are responsible for imposing and lifting the restrictions. The same group came up with the unexpected plan for deeper restrictions during Easter, which was announced early Tuesday.
The plan was to make next Thursday – the day before Good Friday – a “day of rest”, with all the shops closed and to allow the opening of supermarkets only on Easter Saturday. As Friday and Monday are already holidays, it would have created a five-day closure of public life – in addition to the existing blockade restrictions, which have been extended until April 18.
The plan had raised many questions about the logistical details, which remained unresolved and was also criticized because there was no public discussion about it before it appeared in the early hours of Tuesday, after lengthy negotiations.
“The idea of an Easter break was developed with the best of intentions, because we urgently need to slow down and reverse the third wave of the pandemic,” Merkel said. “However, the idea … was a mistake – there were good reasons for it, but it could not be implemented well enough in this short time.”
“This mistake is just my mistake,” she told reporters. “A mistake must be called a mistake and, above all, it must be corrected – and, if possible, it must happen in time.”
“At the same time, of course, I know that this whole issue is triggering more uncertainty – I deeply regret this and I apologize to all citizens,” she said.
The number of infections in Germany has risen again as the more contagious variant of the virus, which was first detected in the UK, has become dominant in the country.
Germany has seen more than 75,000 deaths since the pandemic broke out a year ago. The country’s disease control center also reported 15,815 new cases of infection in the past 24 hours on Wednesday – a week ago there were 13,435 new cases.
Merkel said that even without stopping Easter, the decisions she has made with state governors provide a “framework” for removing the new wave of coronavirus infections.
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