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Merkel sets out plan to reopen Germany from coronavirus lockdown

BERLIN — Germany will begin to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions, allowing certain shops to sta..

BERLIN — Germany will begin to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions, allowing certain shops to start trading again Monday and schools to reopen gradually as part of efforts to make prevention measures more sustainable, Angela Merkel said.

“We must learn how to live with this virus … as long as there is no vaccine or medicine against it,” the German chancellor said, following a four-hour videoconference with the heads of the countrys 16 federal states.

From Monday, stores of up to 800 square meters will be able to start trading with sanitary controls in place. That will include allowing car dealerships to open, a key demand of Germanys powerful auto industry lobby, along with bike stores and bookshops. However, restaurants, bars and shopping malls will remain closed and large events will be banned until the end of the summer, the government announced.

Shortly after the announcement, Volkswagen said it would restart work at a plant in Zwickau on Monday and the rest of its German facilities from April 27.

Germanys ban on gatherings of more than two people, set to expire on Sunday, will be extended until May 3, Merkel said, describing the countrys progress in reducing the number of new coronavirus cases as “fragile.”

Berlins plan highlights how EU governments are taking different approaches to relaxing lockdown measures, based in part on the severity of the pandemic in their countries. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said France will only start to return to normal life from May 11, with the government only set to unveil a plan for the reopening of kindergartens, schools and workplaces at the end of this month.

Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the German interior ministry said that the nations border controls — first introduced last month — would be extended until May 4, except on the frontier with Belgium and the Netherlands.

While face masks are mandatory in some other EU countries, Merkel said they would only be “highly recommended” in supermarkets and on public transport in Germany.

The chancellor said reopening schools as of May 4 presents a “logistical challenge” and needed to be done “in groups”: Secondary school students will return first to take final exams, before primary school students and younger will be allowed to return. A conference of education and cultural affairs ministers will come up with guidance by the end of this month.

The Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, which helps coordinate the countrys academic standards, recommended this week that kindergartens should remain closed “until the summer holidays” while schools sRead More – Source
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