Danger still lurks in Germany, a world leader in coronavirus war

In the eight weeks since Germany became the largest European Union country to begin easing Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the nation that has emerged as a case study for how to handle the virus has managed to build upon its early success despite some regional setbacks.

Having flattened the curve with rates of new infections and deaths now a mere fraction of their peaks in early April, Germany has become a poster child for how a major Western nation can deal with the public-health crisis. The key ingredients to fight the pandemic included: a quick shutdown of public life early on in mid-March; clear political leadership; a dutiful populace; and a well-funded public health care system.

But as harrowing outbreaks of infections in the last week in a western German slaughterhouse and in crowded high-rise flats in two eastern cities demonstrated to a country yearning for a return to a more normal lifestyle, Germany is far from out of the woods when it comes to the pandemic that has infected at least 10.2 million and killed more than 500,000 globally.

“Take this seriously because it is serious,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a sternly worded video podcast to Germans this weekend. “We’re tempted to forget that because Germany has managed to come through this crisis in good shape. But that doesn’t mean that we’re safe and that the danger has passed. These regional outbreaks we’ve had show that.”

Indeed, in contrast to other countries locked in life-and-death battles with Covid-19, many Germans seem more concerned about whether and where they will be able to take their summer holidays this year – signs that life is close to normal again in a country where foreign holidays are serious business with tens of millions travelling abroad each year. Popular tourist destinations dependent on German visitors such as Greece, Spain and Italy have been urging Germans to come back this summer.