German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the weekly cabinet meeting of the German government at the chancellery in Berlin, Wednesday, March 24, 2021.
(Kay Nietfeld/Pool via AP)BERLIN โ German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday dropped plans for a five-day shutdown over Easter, which had prompted confusion and criticism.
The same group, faced with rising coronavirus infections, had come up early Tuesday with the unexpected plan for tighter restrictions over Easter.
AdโThe idea of an Easter shutdown was drawn up with the best intentions, because we must urgently manage to slow and reverse the third wave of the pandemic,โ Merkel said.
Merkel said, even without the Easter shutdown, the decisions that she and the state governors came up with offer a โframeworkโ to beat back the new wave of coronavirus infections.