Germany looks to tackle coronavirus rise with 3 simple strategies

Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to avoid another full national lockdown as coronavirus infections begin to spike again in Germany. Like its European neighbors, Germany has not been spared a second wave of the virus after the region’s economies reopened during the summer. Although, so far it has not seen a surge in cases like France, Spain and the U.K.

For instance, while the U.K. reported 7,143 new cases and 71 deaths from the virus Tuesday, Germany’s public health body reported 2,089 new cases and 11 fatalities. Germany did not fare as badly in the first outbreak of the coronavirus compared to its neighbors, managing to limit deaths (there are still under 10,000 — far lower than the U.K. Italy, France and Spain). But officials are not complacent about a second wave of cases.

She warned that with the current rate of infection, Germany could see more than 19,000 cases per day by the end of the year as she announced new restrictions, and reiterated existing guidance around social distancing and personal hygiene, as well as a strengthening of the country’s test-and-trace system.

Three elements
“The underlying strategy is still to keep infections low enough so that the tracing of infection chains remains possible, which is vital if schools and the economy are to remain open,” JPMorgan euro area economist Greg Fuzesi noted Tuesday.

He noted that the strategy has “three elements”: A refocusing on existing hygiene and distancing rules, the test-and-trace system and an enhancement of “the hotspot strategy.”

Germany looks to tackle coronavirus rise with 3 simple strategies, CNBC, Sep 30