Fear of coronavirus Majority of Germans against easing the ban on contact
Berlin · How do we get out of this? The debate is on about how to ease out of the restrictions brought on by the corona pandemic. But for many, fear of the virus still outweighs the desire for normality.
The majority of Germans is against an easing of the ban on contact, put in place to contain the corona pandemic.
In a survey conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency (dpa), 44 percent were in favor of extending the measures beyond April 19, and 12 percent were even in favor of strengthening them.
Only 32 percent were in favor of relaxing the rules and 8 percent were in favor of removing the restrictions decided on by the federal and state governments. 5 percent did not give any response.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) will discuss with the state premiers about how to proceed after April 19. On March 22, the group of leaders had decided on comprehensive restrictions on freedom of movement, initially for two weeks. These were later extended until after Easter on April 19. Even before that, sporting and cultural events with spectators had been banned and most shops - with the exception of mainly supermarkets - had been closed.
(Orig. text: dpa / Translation: ck)
