For 16 years she navigated Germany through ups and downs. Angela Merkel (67) is now stepping down as Chancellor. And takes stock. In particular, she is sad about a phase in the Corona period to this day.
Christmas 2020 was the weakest moment in fighting the pandemic, Merkel confesses in an interview with “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
At that time, around 30,000 people in retirement and nursing homes died of Covid infections. Over half of the corona deaths in winter 2020 came from retirement homes. In retrospect, the Chancellor is annoyed that she was powerless. “The tests were available then. And yet too little was tested in the old people’s and nursing homes. “
“Could prevent a lot of bad things in Germany”
Merkel herself even tried personally to force the tests in telephone conversations with local officials. “Nevertheless, it took too long for this to be implemented in the nursing homes.”
Virologists had already called for better protection for people in old people’s and nursing homes in October 2020. The government around Chancellor Merkel saw it differently. She said you couldn’t completely shield risk groups. The result: there were large-scale corona outbreaks in old people’s and nursing homes across the country. Some of the protection concepts did not take effect until it was long too late.
Nevertheless, Angela Merkel basically draws a positive corona balance in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “For me, it was crucial that our health system is not overloaded, so that everyone can receive the best possible treatment and as few people as possible die. In both respects we were able to prevent a lot of bad things in Germany that unfortunately other countries had to go through. “
Corona numbers are increasing
While the 67-year-old looks back on her time as Chancellor, the coalition negotiations between the SPD, Greens and FDP for a new government are in full swing. The deliberations of the working groups are to start this Wednesday. The coalition agreement for the “traffic light” should be in place by the end of November, and then the new government in the second week of December.
She has to lead Germany through the second Corona winter. It’s not looking good right now. The number of infections is on the rise, up by 2,500 cases over the week. The seven-day incidence is also rising and rising. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week on Monday morning as 110.1. For comparison: the previous day the value was 106.3, a week ago it was 74.4. (oco)