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Europe The Economist April 25th 2020 41
Also in this section
42 France’s running conundrum
42 Turkey, refugees and covid-19
43 NATO in Europe
44 Charlemagne: The privacy debate
Germany and covid-19 fected were young, which kept hospitalisa-
Top of the class? tions and deaths down (though they are
now climbing). Germany used the time this
bought to flatten the curve of infections.
Building on its early success in isolating
cases will be crucial as Germany moves to
the next stage of the crisis. Mrs Merkel
wants to track every chain of infection.
BERLIN
That means yet more tests—reportedly up
Angela Merkel is leading her country well, but faces obstacles ahead
to 4.5m a week if supply constraints can be
f any big European country can be said tests a week, and could do many more. overcome—and rigorously chasing con-
Ito have so far had a good corona crisis, it Second, while national politicians and tacts of the newly infected. Apps may help,
is Germany. Deaths are fewer than in other health officials dithered, local authorities notwithstanding privacy worries (see
countries, the state helps ailing firms and acted quickly to close public places and Charlemagne), but most work will be done
workers and the politicians seem level- track contacts of the infected when early by thousands of “containment scouts” in
headed and competent. Places with more outbreaks were detected in parts of Bavaria Germany’s 400-odd overworked and
erratic leadership have noted the contrast. and the Rhineland. Germany was also underfunded public-health offices.
British journalists ask their politicians lucky, says Karl Lauterbach, an mp and epi- The fiscal response also builds on old
why they can’t emulate Germany’s testing demiologist. It received an “early warning” foundations. To protect workers’ income,
rates. American television networks urge from Italy, and many of the first to be in- Germany has ramped up Kurzarbeitergeld
Jens Spahn, the health minister, to reveal (money for short-time work), an estab-
Germany’s secrets. One columnist even lished system under which the state covers
mused that Angela Merkel, the chancellor, Germany versus germs 60-87% of the forgone wages of workers
might serve as Joe Biden’s running-mate. Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 population whose hours are cut. It has pledged hun-
The true picture is more complicated. To April 22nd 2020 dreds of billions in guarantees for bridging
“We can’t say we’re perfect and everything loans, and set up a €50bn ($54bn) fund for
0 10 20 30 40 50
was planned,” says Jonas Schmidt-Chana- freelancers and small companies. After a
sit, a virologist at the University of Ham- Spain few hiccups, implementation has been
burg. Testing was crucial, but relied on an Italy largely smooth. Yet as recession bites,
existing network of nearly 200 private and more is needed. On April 22nd the cabinet
France
public laboratories that ramped up capaci- agreed a further €10bn stimulus package.
ty after a Berlin hospital developed a test in Britain The measures smash Germany’s hal-
January, before politicians knew a crisis lowed no-deficit rule. But for Olaf Scholz,
Netherlands
was coming. “Other countries had to build the finance minister, this is a feature, not a
labs, we already have them,” says Evange- Germany bug: Germany can spend in bad times be-
los Kotsopoulos, the boss of the German Poland cause it saved in good. The size of its re-
arm of Sonic Healthcare, a private lab net- sponse, says Oliver Rakau at the Oxford
Sources: Johns Hopkins University CSSE; PHE/NHS
work. Germany now conducts 350,000 Economics consultancy, means Germany 1
