German re-opening & Contingency plans
The UK should wait & see if this goes off OK ...
or reignites exponential infection growth < nervous >
Germany will allow all shops, restaurants, hotels to open shortly, with social distancing
< trivial, but I'm hoping for gyms too, in my state >
The 16 German states agreed with Merkel to draw up a plan
to reimpose measures for any administrative district
(these average 200,000 pop >
that reports 50 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants within a week.
Those restrictions could also be applied just to a single facility such as a nursing home.
The aim is to avoid reimposing a shutdown nationwide
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/05/06/business/bc-eu-virus-outbreak-germany.html
Merkel said.
“We must take care that things don't slip out of our hands,
and I have a good feeling because we agreed on this emergency mechanism today,”
she said.
“We are not just saying what we are opening,
but also that if something happens locally we won't wait until it has spread through the whole republic.”
Under Germany's federal system, states are responsible for imposing and loosening lockdown measures.
That has led to significant regional variations, with some governors less patient than others
- and Wednesday's decision looks sure to strengthen that trend.
Large stores can now reopen everywhere.
States will decide “in their own responsibility” on the step-by-step reopening of restaurants,
which have been closed for all but takeouts,
and hotels, which haven't been allowed to welcome tourists since March.
They will have to seat customers further apart than usual
and observe strict hygiene rules to prevent the virus spreading
Some regions want to start as early as Saturday.
Restaurants and hotels are the “most critical” sector for health reasons, Merkel said.
With hotels reopening,
“there will of course be more travel through the republic ...
we will have to watch this process very, very closely."