Germany apologizes and drops plans for strict Easter COVID lockdown
24 March 2021
Germany will no longer implement a stricter shutdown over the Easter holiday period on April 1-5, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Wednesday, calling the plan a mistake and apologizing to citizens, reports AP.
Why it matters: This is a speedy reversal of a portion of a plan announced Tuesday to extend COVID-19 restrictions in Germany another month, with a tightening of measures over Easter.
- The new restrictions faced public criticism due to the lack of public discussion preceding it and the breadth of logistical details that remain unanswered about it, per AP.
Details: Merkel announced the change in plans after an impromptu call Wednesday with the governors of Germany's 16 states, which had helped concoct the original plan to extend the current lockdown until April 18 with an extra tightening of measures during the Easter holiday.
What they're saying: “The 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,” Merkel said. “However, the idea ... was a mistake."
- "[O]f course I know that this whole matter triggers more uncertainty — I regret that deeply and I apologize to all citizens,” she said.
The big picture: Just last week German Health Minister Jens Spahn warned that coronavirus cases in the country were rising at an "exponential rate," and that Germany does not have enough vaccine doses to avoid a third wave of the virus.
- The weekend saw anti-lockdown protests in several cities in Germany, with 20,000 people filling the streets of the city of Kassel.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.