A Donegal man living in Germany says the government there is taking no chances as it begins to ease its coronavirus restrictions.
Des Porter from Buncrana has lived in Germany for 21 years and works for a company that distributes electrical components.
In common with several other EU states, Germany closed some of its land borders in March to try to curb the spread of Covid-19. Last week Angela Merkel’s government began to soften restrictions by allowing smaller shops to reopen. But the wearing of face masks in stores and on public transport has become compulsory in many of the country’s 16 states.
Des Porter lives in Bavaria, an area with some of the strictest regulations. He says the government is taking a very cautious approach as it tries to return to some form of normality.
“Here in Germany you have the government but each state also has its own parliament and they have a big say in how the restrictions are set up,” said Des.
“The week before St Patrick’s Day the schools here in Bavaria started closing, one of the first places to do that but within a week or so, all states had done the same. By March 20 they decided everything was to close apart from grocery stores and the places that were really needed. It was a case of all non-essential places had to close.
“Then from April 20 they started loosening things a bit, for example shops with an area of 800sq metres were allowed to reopen as long as they had in place the concept to stop people getting too close. People are also allowed to go out and meet up again although you are only allowed to meet up with one person, you wouldn’t be allowed to meet up in groups of 20.
“What has also come into force is that you have to cover your mouth and nose with either a mask or scarf in shops and on public transport. If you don’t you can be fined up to €150 and if shops are caught letting people in without a mask then they can be fined €5,000.”
Since the easing of lockdown restrictions the rate at which the virus is spreading has spiked again. But experts at the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s public health institute and the country’s foremost Covid-19 authority, say it is still to early to say if there has been a major increase in cases. The German government will wait until May 6 to decide on the next steps to ease the lockdown.
Since the start of the pandemic there been 163,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Germany and over 6,600 deaths.
Des Porter stressed that while he has no medical background, he did expect cases to rise purely based on population numbers. But Germany also has a high recovery rate with 118,000 people recuperating and it is viewed as one of Europe’s most successful in tackling the virus.
Des said that in terms of protecting its citizens, the German government has got it right so far.
“The health system here is very good. When the numbers starting going up here in Bavaria they immediately started calling back doctors who had retired and they started bringing in student doctors. Hospitals that had been previously closed have been reopened.
“The Germans take their health very seriously. I know the perception is that they are a very serious people anyway but when it comes to health, they really are.”
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