Merkel Party Leader Reinforces Call for Tighter German Lockdown

(Bloomberg) -- The leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party reinforced his call for strict, short-term curbs to contain Germany’s resurgent outbreak, as he tries to gain backing for the plan.

A hard two- to three-week shutdown is needed to get Germany’s incidence rate under control, Armin Laschet, the chairman of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, said Tuesday. After the so-called bridge lockdown, the restrictions could be cautiously lifted as vaccinations gather pace and increased testing allows more businesses to reopen, he told public broadcaster ZDF.

“The incidence rate is still too high,” said Laschet, who is also the premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and hoping to run as the conservative candidate to replace Merkel. “My proposal is for another big effort.”

Bringing the number of infections below 100 per 100,000 people over seven days would allow the more long-term easing which is “what we’re all hoping for so much,” said Laschet, who has previously backed a looser pandemic policy.

With national elections looming in September, German politicians have been reluctant to impose new restrictions and have struggled to formulate a clear plan. But with the contagion rate above 100 for more than two weeks and intensive-care units filling up again, pressure is mounting to take action.

While some municipalities are experimenting with allowing business to reopen, others are tightening policies. In Hamburg, a curfew has been in force since the Easter weekend from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. In Berlin, people can only leave their homes alone or with one other person at night.

Merkel apologized for the confusion caused after she was forced to withdraw proposals for a hard lockdown over Easter. Public discontent with her government’s management of the crisis has led to the conservative CDU/CSU bloc slumping in opinion polls and its lead over the second-placed Greens is shrinking with the national election less than six months away.

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Germany’s incidence rate began rising again in mid-February. On Tuesday, the figure slipped to 123 from as high as 135 last week, though the country’s RKI public-health institute warned that testing and reporting probably slowed over the Easter break.

Laschet on Monday proposed that Merkel and state leaders meet this week, instead of next Monday, to discuss the lockdown. A government spokesperson said there are no plans to do so, and few of Laschet’s fellow state premiers appeared ready to support early talks on pandemic policy, which is largely under the authority of local officials in Germany’s federal system.

Michael Mueller, the Social Democrat mayor of Berlin and current head of the conference of regional leaders, rejected the idea of bringing the meeting forward, saying late Monday that Laschet’s proposals lacked detail.

Volker Bouffier, the premier of Hesse and another member of Merkel’s CDU, told RND he would be willing to hold the talks earlier than April 12, but they would have to be in person rather than via video conference.

Laschet’s call for tighter curbs -- including nighttime curfews and more working from home -- might be right in principle, Clemens Fuest, president of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, said in an interview on ARD television late Monday.

However, Fuest noted that it comes just two weeks after state leaders failed to agree on a lockdown before Easter despite warnings from experts over resurgent infections.

“The whole thing seems totally haphazard,” he said.

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