Lars Schaade, vice-president of the Robert-Koch-Institute, addresses the media during a news conference on the coronavirus disease spread, in Berlin, Germany May 7, 2020. — Reuters pic
“We are not living after the pandemic now — rather we are living in the middle of a pandemic, one that will be with us for a while — at least for this year and that’s being very optimistic,” Helge Braun, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, toldThe Robert Koch Institute , a health authority that has a central role in fighting the disease, said particular vigilance was important in the autumn, pointing to evidence that the virus could have a slight seasonal pattern with more cases expected...
Merkel had announced steps to ease the lockdown and launched an “emergency brake” mechanism allowing for renewed restrictions in case infections pick up again.