German government response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The government of Germany initially responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country with preventive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 in the country. With the nationwide spread of the disease from March 2020, preventive measures were replaced by containment measures, including a lockdown from March. On 25 March, the Bundestag made the determination of an epidemic situation of national significance (de:Epidemische Lage von nationaler Tragweite).[1] This created a legal framework for the government of chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the 16 German states to agree on nationwide pandemic restrictions.[2] Implementation of decisions by that panel remained a matter of individual states, however,[3] leading to differences in anti-pandemic rules and regulations across states.[4] The Bundesnotbremse (federal emergency brake) in force from April to June 2021 sought to establish uniformity.[5]
Further information: COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
The first months of fighting the pandemic were widely considered a success. This was seen by observers to have been due to a wide acceptance of the cautious course of Merkel, whose televised speech on 18 March was considered highly effective.[6] Case numbers were decreasing to a degree that much of public life had returned to normal by late summer. This success was not repeated with the second wave of the pandemic, which saw daily new cases rise seven-fold over the course of October 2020 and resulted in a second lockdown from December 2020, and the third wave in the first months of 2021.[7] Besides lockdown fatigue gaining ground,[8] another reason was the approaching 2021 German federal election, in which CDU/CSU contenders for the succession of Merkel tried to draw contrasts, often with a less cautious approach to the pandemic than hers.[7] The accelerating vaccination campaign was credited with overcoming the third wave.[9]
The fourth wave of the pandemic from August 2021[10] led to record case numbers by November, while the severe cases and deaths among adults were far lower in the previous waves due to the vaccinations.[11] Before the formation of the Scholz cabinet in early December, observers saw anti-pandemic decision making as being hampered by the nature of the caretaker government of Merkel, while also saying that the government had since much earlier been overly hesitant to impose tough, unpopular decisions.[12][7] With expiry of the epidemic situation of national significance in November 2021 a catalogue of measures was rolled out, including restrictions tied to the hospitalization rate.[13] Booster shots were a central part of the government strategy against the Omicron variant.[14] A partial vaccine mandate for health workers took effect in mid-March 2022, but a proposal for a vaccine mandate for all aged 60 and over was rejected in the Bundestag on 7 April, in what was seen by observers as a major setback for the government.[15]
Many coronavirus measures faced legal challenges from individuals.[16] In November 2021, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a challenge against the Bundesnotbremse in which several members of the FDP (Free Democrats) party had participated.[17] The far-right populist AfD party also challenged several measures.[13]
Corona crisis team[edit]
On 28 February 2020, the German government announced the establishment of a new crisis team (Corona-Krisenstab) tasked with combating the spread of COVID-19,[22] which was to meet twice a week.[44] The establishment of the team, led jointly by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Ministry of Health, followed crisis management regulations.[45] The crisis team met nearly 100 times until November 2021, when chancellor-in-waiting Olaf Scholz announced the creation of a successor body which would be larger, more influential, and advised by scientists. Members of the liberal FDP party and the Greens, the partners of Scholz in the traffic light coalition, expressed their view that the creation of such a new body had been overdue. Outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel had already signaled her support for the new crisis team.[46]
In line with these plans, a new Corona-Krisenstab was created on behest of the outgoing government of chancellor Merkel, and commenced its work in November 2021. Headed by Major General Carsten Breuer, the main tasks of the team were the coordination and cooperation in the steering of the vaccination campaign, and the delivery and distribution of vaccines.[47] It had up to 30 members.[48]
The crisis team was dissolved as per a government announcement on 11 May 2022. A government spokesperson explained this step by saying that Germany was now in a "completely different situation" regarding infections and vaccinations, and that pandemic management was henceforth to be conducted within the "usual work structures" of the government. At the same time, she cautioned that the measure was by no means to be understood as signaling an end of the pandemic, as it would be "fully clear" that it was continuing.[47]
3G, 2G, and 2G+ rules[edit]
From August until November 2021, most of Germany was operating under the "3G" rule, which limited access to hospitals and nursing homes, as well as restaurants, bars and cinemas to those who were fully vaccinated, the recovered, and those who had recently tested negative for the coronavirus. The "3G" rule was seen by observers as increasing pressure on the population to get vaccinated.[58][59] As the fourth wave of the pandemic gained momentum towards the end of 2021, particularly in view of the growing pressure on intensive care units, there were increased calls to adopt the "2G" rule, under which access to the aforementioned venues was limited to the vaccinated and the recovered.[58][11] The "2G" rule was incorporated in the anti-pandemic measures passed by the Bundestag on 18 November 2021, as well as the "2G plus" (2G+) rule, which added the requirement of an up-to-date negative coronavirus test to the "2G" requirements.[13] In November, Bavarian premier Markus Söder announced the implementation of a statewide "2G" rule, which he described as a "de facto lockdown" for unvaccinated people. Besides not being allowed access to facilities such as hairdressers, as well as universities and adult education centers, they were also subject to contact restrictions.[60]
At a meeting of Lauterbach with the state health ministers on 14 December 2021, it was agreed that the testing requirement of the "2G+" rule would be dropped for those having received a vaccine booster shot at least 15 days earlier, except for nursing homes and hospitals. Several German states had already adopted this measure.[61]
In December 2021, virologist Christian Drosten suggested that Germany should, in case that the measures already taken against the new Omicron variant should not work, consider a "1G" rule, meaning that only people who had received a booster shot would be allowed access to venues of concern.[62] Earlier in November 2021, ThyssenKrupp had labelled as "1G" its offer to staff to be voluntarily tested every day at work.[63]
[edit]
On 24 July 2020, authorities announced that Germany would offer free voluntary coronavirus tests to all returning holidaymakers, with arrivals from 130 designated high-risk countries being eligible for tests on the same day. Testing facilities would be set up at airports.[82]
From 8 March 2021, a week later than had been anticipated by health minister Spahn in mid-February,[83] the government footed the bill for one weekly rapid test per resident, to be administered by trained personnel.[84] The rationale for the free-of-charge tests, also referred to as Bürgertests (citizen tests), was to avoid stricter pandemic measures during the severe COVID-19 wave of that time.[85] By early August 2021, the cost for the government incurred by the free rapid tests had reached over 3 billion euros. The Federal Ministry of Health suggested the end of free rapid tests in October.[86]
On 10 August 2021, after meeting the 16 state premiers, chancellor Merkel announced that free COVID-19 tests would end on 11 October 2021, except for children, teenagers, and those with medical conditions which make them ineligible for vaccination. Chancellor Merkel justified this decision by saying that the government was now able to offer vaccines to every German citizen.[87]
On 8 November 2021, it was reported that the prospective future government parties of the traffic light coalition – the SPD, the Alliance 90/The Greens and the FDP – had agreed to make rapid coronavirus tests again free of charge;[88] on 12 November 2021, health minister Spahn announced that this would be implemented from the following day.[89]
On 24 June 2022, health minister Lauterbach announced that daily rapid tests would remain free of charge from 30 June only for risk groups, with others having to pay a contribution of 3 euros per test from that date. Lauterbach expressed his regret about the decision, citing the financial burden of about one billion euros per month had the free tests for all been continued.[90]
All remaining Bürgertest centers ceased to operate with effect from 1 March 2023.[91]
The free coronavirus testing scheme, which allowed private operators to receive government funding, led to multiple cases of fraud. The Berlin State Criminal Police Office estimated the damage to be between one and one and a half billion euros. The limitation of tests from July 2022, together with a reduction in government subsidy, was intended to end fraud once and for all.[85]
On 5 August 2022, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (NASHIP) announced that it would suspend payouts to coronavirus testing centers, due to what NASHIP said were unresolved legal questions regarding its responsibility in case of fraud under the new regulations in force since 30 June. A spokesperson for the Chambers of Pharmacists and Pharmacists' Associations called the decision a "scandal".[92]
Economic stimulus measures[edit]
On 1 March 2020, finance minister Olaf Scholz stated that the government was prepared for a stimulus package to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.[93] On 3 March, Markus Söder, Minister President of Bavaria and leader of the CSU, and the German Minister for Economics, Peter Altmaier, pushed for financial help for companies affected by the virus.[94][95]
On 9 March, Angela Merkel's administration announced measures to cushion the economic blow.[96]
On 6 April 2020, the KfW launched a new Quick Loan Program (Schnellkredit) in response to the effects of the pandemic on small businesses.[97] The program presented benefits like two free years of repayment, 10-year period to repay the loan, and the KfW would assume one hundred per cent of the risk from the loan.[98] The maximum amounts a company could apply for under the program were 675,000 euros for companies with less than 10 employees, 1,125,000 euros for companies between 10 and 50 employees, and up to 1,800,000 euros for companies with more than 50 employees.[98] According to the IMF, state guarantees were 24.8% of Germany's 2020 GDP.[99]
On 22 April, the federal cabinet approved the German stability programme.[100] This programme presented a projection of the government's planned budgetary spending to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. The planned package pledged 60%[101] of their 2019 GDP in fiscal impulse (job and wage security), tax deferrals, and liquidity assistance. Their proposed package was larger than other country's like the United States, the United Kingdom and France.[102] The programme included plans to spend 3.5 billion euros on health equipment and vaccine development, as well as presenting funding for job security and loan plans with the KfW.[100]
On 12 June, the federal government adopted a €130 billion stimulus package which included a temporary reduction in VAT until the end of 2020, and a bonus for families with children amounting to €300 per child, to be paid in two instalments of €150 in September and October 2020. The measure was informally referred by Scholz as Wumms or "oomph", a term that took hold in German public discourse.[103] The German parliament passed the package on 29 June.[104]
On 8 July, economy minister Peter Altmaier announced the release of non-repayable bridging funds for medium-sized companies with annual turnover not exceeding €750 million which have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The amount of aid depends on revenue lost, and on the number of employees. Companies have to apply for the funds through their tax advisors or auditors, a step that was intended to safeguard from abuse of the scheme, also in view of evidence that aid that had been made available at the beginning of the crisis had been misused. On occasion of presenting the scheme, Altmaier stated that he expected some sectors of the economy to return to a phase of growth from October 2020.[105]
To mitigate the impact of the second lockdown from November 2020 on businesses, the self-employed, and associations and institutions who were required to close, the German government introduced an "umbrella" scheme, initially with an estimated budget of €30 billion. The scheme, termed Novemberhilfe (November aid), received approval under the Temporary Framework of the European Commission.[106] With the lockdown continuing into January 2021, further aid was made available under new schemes. As with the Novemberhilfe and the measures earlier agreed in July 2021, companies were usually required to lodge applications for these funds through tax advisors or auditors. The complex and changing rules for eligibility for funding led to complaints by these professions that they were overburdened.[107]
According to records published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWi) in late December 2021, Germany had to date spent 130 billion euros on supporting the economy, with about 60 billion and 55 billion granted as subsidies and loans, respectively. The document cited information from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs according to which the latter had paid out about 24 billion Kurzarbeit support (Kurzarbeitergeld) and about 18 billion for social benefits related to the Kurzarbeit scheme, in total in 2020 and 2021. The BMWi said that these and other supporting measures would be continued into the first months of 2022.[108]
At the second anniversary of the beginning of the pandemic in Germany in January 2022, the German Economic Institute estimated the economic loss resulting from the pandemic to be 350 billion euros. This was due to reduced consumption and secondarily, due to reduced investment activity. For the first three months of 2022, the experts considered an additional loss of 50 billion euros to be possible. They projected that economic recovery would take years.[109] In a press release in February 2022, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research estimated the total costs of the coronavirus crisis for the years 2020 and 2021 to be 330 billion euros.[110]
Court rulings[edit]
In the first weeks of the pandemic, the major restrictions on personal freedoms that were a consequence of governmental anti-pandemic measures were not subject to substantial criticism by the judiciary. For example, the High Administrative Court of Bavaria (Bayerischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof) on 30 March 2020 upheld the particularly stringent restrictions in the state, citing the limited understanding of pandemic risk as reason.[111] The regulation during the first wave that shops and retailers were – with few exceptions – not allowed to operate if their sales area exceeded 800 square metres was challenged in several states, but successes of the challenges were in several cases reversed by higher courts. One of the arguments of the higher courts was that shops were able to continue to operate, and therefore limit their economic losses, by restricting their sales area to below the 800 square metre threshold.[112]
On 16 April 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the governmental lockdown imposed in March did not allow blanket bans on rallies; a small protest in Giessen against the lockdown measures, the initial prohibition of which had prompted the court case, went ahead after the city mayor said that permission would be given.[113]
As the first wave of the pandemic eased towards mid-2020 and pandemic risk was better understood, government measures were increasingly often ruled to be overly restrictive, and some were reversed.[111] In what was seen by observers as a possible signal of this development, a lockdown in Gütersloh district was ordered to be halted by a court on 6 July 2020. By August 2020, administrative courts across Germany dealt with hundreds of cases challenging restrictions.[114]
On 26 March 2021, the Karlsruhe social court ruled that a one-off payout of €150 to adult recipients of basic social income (commonly known in Germany as Hartz IV) eligible as of May 2021, was unconstitutional. The payout had been agreed upon in February by the ruling CDU/CSU and SPD coalition as a support measure in the pandemic. The court said that an increase of about €100 for each month of the pandemic was necessary.[115]
On 30 November 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled that the federal emergency brake (Bundesnotbremse) anti-pandemic measures in force from April to late June 2021 had been legal. One of two rulings concerned curfews and contact restrictions, the other concerned school closures, and both dismissed several complaints that had been lodged by Christian Lindner and other members of his FDP party. In justifying its decision, the court pointed to the serious pandemic situation at that time, the availability of online instruction of school pupils in lieu of face-to-face teaching, and the temporary character of the measures.[17]
On 28 December 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled that "without delay", provisions had to be made to prevent a discrimination of people with disabilities in case of triage becoming necessary due to a shortage of intensive care facilities. Nine people with disabilities and pre-existing conditions had filed complaints at the court.[116] On 11 November 2022, the Bundestag in response passed a law that excluded age and disabilities as criteria in triage.[117]
On 26 January 2022, the Constitutional Court dismissed a request by the AfD party to waive the vaccination requirement for access to the Bundestag parliament for the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day the following day. A 2G+ requirement had been in force in the Bundestag since 12 January, with the exception made for the visitors' gallery having been dropped for the remembrance day.[118]
On 17 March 2023, the Oberverwaltungsgericht (state administrative high court) of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) ruled in favour of three self-employed plaintiffs, in that final advice by the NRW government to the three, which had cancelled part of earlier lump sum subsidies of 9,000 euros, was invalid. The court admonished the unclear wording of the initial advice sent out in 2020. Observers considered the ruling as being significant for similar cases at the federal level.[119][120]
Assessment of government response[edit]
Some observers considered the chancellor and state premier meetings from the beginning of the pandemic as effectively circumventing parliament,[2] while others disagreed, citing the liveliness of the debating culture even during the early stages of the pandemic, and comparing the actions taken with the handling of the European debt crisis by the government in 2009.[147][148]
In an interview with Neue Zürcher Zeitung in October 2020, the former chair of the Constitutional Court, Hans-Jürgen Papier, opined that a large majority of parliamentarians had been too reticent in asserting the role of the Bundestag in pandemic decision making, in spite of the Administrative Court of Bavaria having demanded as early as April 2020 that longer-term lockdowns be enacted by parliament. He also said that the regular meetings of chancellor Merkel and the state governors, the so-called Bund-Länder-Konferenz, had created an "obvious discrepancy between political reality and constitutional law", and that there were no provisions for such a panel in the constitution (the Grundgesetz).[149] Around the same time, Florian Post, legal expert of the SPD, as well as several parliamentarians of the CDU expressed similar concerns about what they saw as diminished role of parliament.[150] The powers held by individual states as provided for in the Grundgesetz, including their independence in implementing anti-pandemic measures, always remained in force.[3]
About the anti-pandemic measures themselves, Papier said in the October 2020 interview that "many" of them were unproblematic from the viewpoint of constitutional law, while others did not satisfy the principle of proportionality.[149]
The January 2022 ordinance which had devolved the decision on the validity of vaccination certificates to the Robert Koch Institute and the Paul Ehrlich Institute was sharply criticized. The ordinance was rescinded weeks after it came into effect.[25]
In late January 2023, health minister Lauterbach described the extended closure of schools and daycare centers during the first waves of the pandemic as a "mistake" but considered an apology by the government as "difficult", as the decisions of that time had been based on the available expertise on the pandemic, which "often" had been "not good enough". He said that Germany had learned a lot from the pandemic, and was therefore much better prepared for a future one.[151] Lauterbach repeated his criticism of the closures on 9 February, on which occasion he also said that a "twisting of facts" by some media outlets, parties, Querdenker and scientists had prevented a higher vaccination rate in the older age groups, leading to avoidable deaths. He also denounced some anti-pandemic rules enacted by individual states, especially Bavaria. He expressed an overall positive view of how the country had gotten through nearly three years of the pandemic. FDP deputy leader Wolfgang Kubicki criticized Lauterbach sharply, saying that the latter had been one of those who had shut out critical voices from science, had stoked panic, and had stretched the limits of constitutional law.[152]
In early 2024, voices calling for a reappraisal of the government response to the pandemic grew louder. That debate intensified after a German online magazine published RKI protocols online in March, claiming that it had obtained them in court under German freedom of information laws.[153] Vice President of the Bundestag Katrin Göring-Eckardt and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck both supported a reappraisal, with Göring-Eckardt saying that it should not be misused to defame actors in politics or medical and other sciences, but focus on what could be learned to prepare politics and society for the possibility of similar future exceptional situations. Health minister Lauterbach said on 27 March that he was open to a reappraisal, but that the government should ponder the question of what would be the most appropriate form for it.[154] He denied having had any part in the barring of information in passages of the protocols, which he said the RKI had been forced to under freedom of information laws; he said that in the interest of transparency, which he fully supported, the relevant persons would be contacted and the barring would be removed in a new version of the protocols, tentatively to be published in four weeks, in which the barred passages would be made readable "to the greatest extent".[155]
Timeline[edit]
January 2020[edit]
On 22 January 2020, the German government considered the spread of COVID-19 as a "very low health risk" for Germans and the virus in general as "far less dangerous" than SARS. New travel advisories would not be necessary.[156]
On 27 January, after the first infections in Germany, the government continued to regard the probability of a spread as "very low". Even if individual cases emerged, authorities would be able to treat them.[157]
At a press conference on 28 January, the Federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, stated that he was only worrying about conspiracy theories that were circulating on the Internet, and that the Federal Government would counter this problem through full transparency. Hotlines were established to calm down worried callers. After a case was suspected in a Lufthansa plane, the company suspended all flights to China.[158][159]
On 29 January, the government ordered pilots of flights from China to describe the health status of their passengers and ordered passengers to fill in a contact document. The government and health authorities expected more isolated cases but were confident to prevent further spread.[158][159]
February 2020[edit]
On 1 February, health minister Spahn warned that people infected with the Coronavirus and their contacts might be stigmatised and be socially excluded. He emphasised that the Germans evacuated from China would all be healthy.[160]
On 13 February, at a meeting of EU health ministers, Spahn dismissed travel restrictions from or to China by single member states. He decidedly rejected measuring the temperature of inbound travellers.[161]
On 26 February, following the confirmation of multiple COVID-19 cases in North Rhine-Westphalia, Heinsberg initiated closure of schools, swimming pools, libraries and the town hall until 2 March. Games and training for FC Wegberg-Beeck were suspended.[162][163] The Cologne-Wahn military airport was temporarily closed.[164][165] The German government opted not to implement travel restrictions on Italy over the coronavirus pandemic there.[166] It also considered itself "far from" issuing a travel warning for the country,[167] which would have enabled free cancellation of trips.[168]
On 28 February, Heinsberg extended closure of daycare facilities and schools to 6 March. The officials imposed a 14-day home isolation for people who had had direct contacts with individuals in the current cases as well as people who showed flu symptoms.[169] On the same day, Germany enacted new health security measures to include regulations for air and sea travel, requiring passengers from China, South Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran to report their health status before entry. Train railway companies must report passengers with symptoms to authorities and the federal police would step up checks within 30 kilometres of the border.[170] On 28 February the government said that not all events should be cancelled.[44]