Too early deconfinement alert in Germany? On Friday, a canton in North Rhine-Westphalia reinstated restrictive measures after the discovery of a hundred cases of Covid-19 among the 1,200 employees of a meat processing plant.
In Schleswig-Holstein, a border with Denmark, it is a slaughterhouse which is affected (109 cases), which creates an initial suspicion on the meat sector in the country. In the Land of Thuringia in the east, retirement homes are experiencing a sudden influx of contamination. This is all the more worrying since it comes just after Angela Merkel's announcement on Wednesday of a gradual return to normal.
The Chancellor, who spoke after a long meeting with the ministers-presidents of the sixteen Länder - the powerful federated regions - said that from now on, no more decision linked to the pandemic would be taken by the federal government in Berlin, but would return to each Land.
The Minister of Health of North Rhine-Westphalia has therefore decided, in addition to the closure of the infected factory, to postpone the planned reopenings of restaurants and leisure parks in the affected canton.
Reconfigure a city, even an establishment, a factory…
In the other two regions, the authorities will notify at the start of the week. "For now, the general rule is as follows: if in a Landkreis (canton, Germany with 400) it exceeds the threshold of 50 contaminations per 100,000 inhabitants recorded over seven days, it must be reconfigured," explains a German diplomat. Knowing that the methods of reconfinement, in this country which has never known confinement in the strict sense as in France, are defined at the regional level. Concretely, they could be limited to a city, or even to an establishment, a factory or a residence for the elderly, for example.
These hiccups break the momentum of optimism last week. Admittedly, the Chancellor, in the role of "Mutti" (Mom) whom she loves, had warned her compatriots against any premature release: "We must be aware that we are still at the beginning of the pandemic and that we still have a long way to go. "
But the return to normal life was well and truly started. As proof, the resumption in mid-May of football matches - behind closed doors - in the Bundesliga (national championship). At the amateur level, only outdoor sports are allowed, without contact: "tennis, rugby is more complicated", summarizes a French expatriate in Munich.
Combinations of two authorized households
“The regions may nevertheless decide on a case-by-case basis to reopen the fitness rooms, like cinemas, theaters, tattoo parlors, etc. »Specifies the diplomat. Another sign, the outings and regroupings, limited so far to two people or to members of the same household, are extended "to two households together". Some MEPs are also calling for a rapid reopening of the borders today.
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
And school ? Unlike France, Germany first authorized the resumption of high school students, "older therefore better able to apply the health instructions". Thus the passage of the Abitur (bac) has already started in writing, in gymnasiums specially equipped for safety distances, according to a calendar specific to each Land.
But the youngest are also gradually finding their class benches. "The objective is the gradual opening of nurseries, schools and colleges so that each pupil can make an at least partial return before the summer," continues the German diplomat. Provided, again, that the renewed epidemic does not force the Germans to close the shutters ...