Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for much tougher restrictions on public life going into Christmas. She came out explicitly in favor of the recommendations that Germany’s National Academy of Science, Leopoldina, released on Tuesday. They call for an end to required school attendance starting Dec. 14, an extended Christmas school break, full closure of businesses and working from home to the fullest extent possible. Merkel said she opposed opening hotels so families could meet over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and that she agreed with recommendations to close shops after Christmas until January 10. Merkel made her remarks in the Bundestag parliament Wednesday morning as part of the debate over the government’s 2021 budget debate. These debates are traditionally an opportunity to take stock of government performance over the previous year. This was Merkel’s last budget debate, as she will not stand for reelection next year, after 15 years of heading the German government. Merkel pushed back against criticism over her government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, arguing the country was going through an “exceptional situation.” Merkel said the new debt the government has taken on as it imposes measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 was justified. “We are living in a pandemic, we are living in an exceptional situation,” she told lawmakers in the Bundestag.
Coronavirus: Merkel urges for stricter lockdown as COVID deaths peak in Germany | DW News
