Germany Reopens Economy: Small Steps Toward Normalcy - Essay Sample

Introduction

After more than a month of total lockdown, German began to open up its economy on April 20, taking small steps to ensure that it restores normalcy without triggering another outbreak of the COVID -19 disease (Quinn, 2020). German politicians had observed that the country has been able to bring the disease under control after it began to flatten the curves of new infections and deaths.

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Germany’s cautious return-to-work formula required that smaller shops below 800 square meters in size open their doors for customers first in the initial wave of the country’s relaxation to tough restrictions on public life (Fuchs, 2020). However, this move was not popular with everyone as the German Trade Association complained that keeping larger shops closed could distort competition (Fuchs, 2020). But the Minister for Economy Peter Altmaier defended the move, reiterating that it is not possible to loosen the belt all at once.

Moreover, in what Chancellor Angel Merkel and leaders of the regional states referred to as a "cautious first step", all the 16 states in the country are expected to lift the curbs at their own pace (Quinn, 2020). The reopening of the economy has been a little slower in some states such as the densely populated capital, Berlin.

The decision to open up the economy amid the Covid-19 crisis was to reinvigorate the economy of Germany, which has been ailing after it was declared to have plunged into recession in mid-April 2020 (Masters, 2020). Merkel's swift action has been widely applauded for containing the coronavirus in Germany, and many citizens are hopeful that she will turn the economy around despite the ongoing pandemic. Although Germany was one of the countries that were worst hit by the pandemic, it pulled one of the quickest reactions, which has been instrumental in flattening the curve at a record time.

On April 17, the Robert Koch Institute, which has been keeping records of the infection announced that for the first time, the number of people infected by each coronavirus patient had fallen to less than one (Masters, 2020). As a result, the Grman Health Minister Jens Spahn observed that the disease had been brought under control.

However, the chancellor has expressed fears that the success of the country still remains fragile. She had herself been quarantined for 14 days last month but she eventually tested negative for the virus (Quinn, 2020). The premier of North-Rhine Westphalia state, Armin Laschet, who is a member of the Chancellor’s conservative party is on record for acknowledging that it will take a long time for Germans to go back to their normal lives. The leader of the most populous states in Germany told Der Spiegel weekly in mid-April that some of the restrictions put in place to curb the coronavirus might continue beyond 2020.

Despite the economy slowly regaining normalcy as more and more shops across the country begin to welcome buyers, the ban on public gatherings still remains in place. At the same time, people are still required to maintain a social distance of at least 1.5 meters in public places.

Hence, the chancellor has delayed the opening of some essential services that cannot be provided under these safety conditions such as hairdressing and beauty salons. Social places such as leisure centers and bars have also remained closed in the meantime. Besides, there is an active ban on large-scale public occasions like football matches and concerts that goes all the way to August 31 (Quinn, 2020). However, all Germans have welcomed the ongoing relaxation to the shutdown, which still goes on in the country.

States in Germany have been partially reopening schools since the beginning of May 2020 (Bennhold, 2020). Each state has been lest to decide its back to school formula but most of them have begun with bringing older students back to the classroom under enhanced hygiene and social distancing rules.

In regions that had been hit most such as Bavaria, reopening of schools has been delayed slightly, as the government experiments the move with schools in other regions (Strauss, 2020). In Neustrelitz, schools gave a self-administered test for high school students, as part of Europe’s big experiment on how to get back its schools running.

Apart from Germany, Denmark is the only European country that has opened its schools. However, a few countries in Asia - Vietnam, South Korea, and China – have also reopened their schools. Reopening of schools is crucial to the global efforts to reopen economies everywhere in the world. Schools need to restart to enable parents to return to work (Bennhold, 2020). Germany is credited for leading the way for other countries on this front. Their approach in handling the coronavirus epidemic at this stage is considered a great lesson for other countries that are still struggling to contain the disease and get back to normalcy.

Lastly, reopening a big economy like Germany in the midst of such as pandemic comes with the risk of triggering a new outbreak (Strauss, 2020). It is expected that movement will increase in the population as businesses and schools get back to work. One therefore hopes that Germans cooperate with their government in its plan of gradually eliminating the restrictions while continuing with its proactive covid-19 control measures such as wearing masks in public places, ramping up contact tracing and testing, and social distancing.

References

Bennhold, K. (2020, May 10). As Europe reopens schools, relief combines with risk. The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/world/europe/reopen-schools-germany.html

Fuchs, H. (2020, March 26). Germany's small businesses get creative amid coronavirus crisis. Deutsche Welle. https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-small-businesses-get-creative-amid-coronavirus-crisis/a-52921638

Masters, J. (2020, May 4). Coronavirus: How are countries responding to the economic crisis? Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/coronavirus-how-are-countries-responding-economic-crisis

Quinn, B. (2020, April 20). Germany starts opening up as coronavirus outbreak 'under control'. France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/20200420-germany-starts-opening-up-as-coronavirus-outbreak-under-control

Strauss, V. (2020, May 4). The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/05/04/students-wearing-masks-return-school-some-countries-start-reopen-during-covid-19-crisis-heres-what-that-looks-like/