Germany eases coronavirus restrictions on shops - BBC News

Germany has reopened small shops, car dealerships and bicycle stores, in a tentative easing of the coronavirus lockdown imposed nearly a month ago.

The country has flattened the curve of new infections and last week said it had got the spread under control. But social distancing remains in force.

In Saxony it is mandatory for people to wear face masks in public - and that is strongly recommended elsewhere.

The only students back in school are those sitting leaving exams.

Germany's mortality rate from Covid-19 is significantly lower than for many of its European neighbours. Efficient, large-scale testing by diagnostic labs, and tracing of carriers, is seen as a major factor in that.

The country on Monday recorded 1,775 new cases for the past day, while the number of deaths linked to Covid-19 rose by 110 to 4,404, according to official figures.

[pikey_greg]

Hats off to Germany ! u showed the rest of Europe how you should handle a pandemic...

[PeterJohnsonWales]

Could it be that the German case numbers are high because they've tested so they have a better idea of the *real* number? I'd like to see the real infection numbers in the UK.

[ptihamarejan]

Well done Germany well done EU God bless you

[pollutingpenguin]

Meanwhile the UK is incapable of even doing the simplest of things such as providing PPE to the NHS. Embarrassing.

[idaanco]

l'Allemagne c'est discipline ...l'organisation. Respect ..la stratégie. Logique .

[critneyhere]

Not all schools are open. The restrictions have been eased only for pupils who are about to take their final "Abitur" exams.

[brandonwilson]

Never thought I’d say this, but well played Germany! The UK’s government is an absolute disgrace.
🇩🇪 👏🏻👏🏻
🇬🇧 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️

[magiccamden]

Germans are more officiant and regulated when it comes to crises.

[ulrikeplk]

I live in Germany and what can I say? Due to the ease of restrictions, I expect a massive wave of new infections...most city centres are full of people who go shopping just for fun. The ease came too early!

[herexcelencyebba]

The world won't be the same as before

[MsZoe]

Can you stop saying this has something to do with luck??! Germany was producing test kit since end of January which allowed it to do this massive track and trace undertaking. Not to mention its already robust and well-funded health system. Face it UK, you fell behind. When I moved from Israel to the UK I couldn’t believe what poor health services you have here. It’s unimaginable that a small country like Israel would far surpass this! And now they have 1.2% death rate (with a huge track and trace operations, and yes they did track ppl’s movements through their mobiles) in Israel and have started reopening the market yesterday.

[angelajdlf]

They knew about it since January, and they reacted not like the other countries

[gaygoddessnamedmadoka]

as a wise jojo character said german science is the best in the world

[altapazi]

We can even compare the Uk to the third world we didn’t even test frontline hospital workers ! What joke

[mavhunter]

Good on them! This is why I like Europeans!

[chrisv]

Oh look, good leadership stepping up to do the right thing, citizens following the rules and now they’re able to relax rules to help the economy.

[Liitebulb]

Belgium has a population of only about 11 million and has 5k deaths. Despite the media praising the situation in belgium and the official statistics, people are not respecting it at all. I work in belgium and at night when it is too late for the parks, shops and laundromats I go on the balcony and every night I can count almost 10 people walking. Walking where ? Where the f you going ? They have obviously been to each other's houses and continuing to socialise.
Last week alone 10k euros were racked up in fines because people were throwing garden parties

[babymetal]

In this outbreak we will actually learn what is the real meaning of a " first world country"!!!

[JK_JK_JK_JK]

Why was the comment section disabled in the previous video about the Underpaid fruit pickers from Spain?!?! 🤔🤨🧐

[Toddel]

I am German and I am very interested in Great Britain. I love, for example, English films, thrillers ;-) and the great culture, the wonderful landscapes, British literature, football. My grandfather always heard BBC secretly during the war, it was dangerous for him. But he always said ... You hear the truth and not the lies. He told me that shortly before he died in 1982. Perhaps that's where my interest comes from.
But what really surprised me was how British politics dealt with the corona crisis. A Boris Johnson who didn't want it to happen and only made the whole thing worse. A health system that was saved from being broken by all parties and now doctors and nurses are laboriously kept up and running. I think my British friends are thinking carefully about whom you trust. Everything stays healthy and takes care of you.