Europe looks to be gradually leaving the pandemic behind, with Germany poised to become the latest in the region to unwind restrictions that have disrupted life for two years.
Most of Germany’s COVID curbs will be rolled back in three stages by March 20, according to a proposal prepared by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s office for a meeting with regional leaders on Wednesday.
Switzerland will scrap almost all pandemic-related restrictions starting from Thursday, including a work-from-home recommendation and the need for COVID-documentation to enter the country. Austria announced similar steps on Wednesday, and the Netherlands will lift controls on people and businesses beginning on Friday.
Once the global epicenter of the crisis, Europe is looking to return to something close to normal. The shift is being helped by relatively high vaccination rates and milder symptoms caused by the omicron variant, even if infection rates remain near peak levels in some countries.
France, which moved faster on unwinding restrictions than stragglers like Germany, could go a step further by loosening requirements on masks and showing proof of vaccination starting in mid-March, Health Minister Olivier Veran said Wednesday.
“If the trend continues, the wave could be over in about two weeks,” he said on France Info radio. “We could get back to a quasi-normal situation.”
Germany’s outbreak has started to recede in recent days and the improving outlook prompted calls from across the political spectrum for Europe’s largest economy to follow countries like the U.K., Ireland and Denmark in easing restrictions.
German officials though remain cautious. The government’s proposals call for mask wearing and social distancing to remain mandatory in indoor public spaces and on public transport. The draft from Scholz’s office also warns of the danger of a fresh wave caused by new variants “at the latest by the fall.”
“We have to remain vigilant,” Hendrik Wuest, premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said on public broadcaster ARD ahead of the meeting. “We can’t just throw everything overboard that has proved its worth in recent months.”
In Switzerland, the use of COVID certificates for indoor venues like restaurants and cinemas will end as of Thursday. Masks will still be required in public transport and health-care facilities.
Austria will cancel almost all restrictions from March 5, though people will still be required to wear masks in some places, Chancellor Karl Nehammer told reporters. Night clubs will be allowed to reopen, and public events will no longer face capacity constraints.
“The virus is still part of our lives, but as it stands we can responsibly take a political decision to free people from most restrictions,” he said.
In Germany, unvaccinated people will immediately be allowed to enter nonessential stores as long as they have a negative test, according to the chancellery proposal.
A second step would take effect March 4 and open up access to restaurants, hotels and nightclubs to people who haven’t gotten inoculated. In the third and final phase, other measures — including work-from-home requirements — will be allowed to expire “as long as the state of the health system allows,” the paper says.
Federal and regional officials will also reiterate their backing for a general vaccine mandate. Lawmakers in the Bundestag have yet to begin debating the measure due to a lack of consensus between political parties and legal complexities.
