From our correspondent in Berlin,
Sunday evening, after Bavaria and the Saar which had shown the way at the start of the weekend, it was the turn of all of Germany to move to the containment stage. The federal government, associated with twelve regions of the country, has announced a new list of restrictive measures intended to limit contact to a minimum, and this for a period of two weeks. Thus, gatherings of more than two people outside the family sphere will be prohibited and the distance to be observed in public space between two people is limited to 1.5O meters. At the same time, the Chancellery spokesman announced that Angela Merkel would continue her quarantine activities after being in contact with a doctor who tested positive.
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After seeing their opening hours framed between 6 and 6 pm, the catering services will be completely closed, as will the cosmetic stores and hairdressers who, curiously, still benefited from an exemption. However, pharmacies should remain open. Travel will be allowed to go to work, practice sport, get some fresh air and help those close to you. Violators will be penalized, the text says. According to data communicated Sunday morning by the Koch Institute, 18,610 cases were detected, 1,950 more than the previous day, and 55 deaths recorded (+ 9).
These new measures are in addition to a range already announced by the Chancellor a week ago, providing in particular for the closure of schools and performance halls, but the more concrete application of which was slow to take effect. This was particularly the case in Berlin where traditionally floats an anti authoritarian scent. "I did not limit my trips," said Thursday, Sigmount Koenisberg, an official at the Great Mosque in Berlin, interviewed by Le Figaro . "There are still large groups in the population who lack social responsibility and say to themselves: after me the flood," regretted this religious leader, however. The Berlin police had in particular sanctioned groups of young people who organized Corona parties in the parks of the capital, leading the government to tighten the screw a little more.
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Even political leaders had declared themselves hostile to any containment measure. “Imagine families with several children without a balcony and without a garden, unable to go outside. It's hard to imagine in the long term, ” argued in the Sunday edition of Die Welt , the Social Democratic president of the Land of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, who finally agreed to join the movement.
The gravity of the pandemic also forces politicians to question the merits of German federalism in times of crisis. This organization of the country inherited from the Second World War, and which aimed to break the centralizing power of German power at the time of the Nazi regime, proves to be difficult to manage at a time when the country must calm down in the same impetus . Bavaria was thus the first region, Friday evening, to impose a curfew while everywhere else, local derogations remained in force. Sunday's meeting, organized by teleconference between Angela Merkel and the presidents of twelve regions, was seen as a test. Next week, the whole country should follow the same guidelines.