Germany Covid-19 death rate now higher than US - considers 'mega lockdown'

Germany has squandered its early success in restricting Covid-19, laments Deutsche Welle Correspondent Chelsey Dulaney.

Germany has squandered its early success in restricting Covid-19.

Although stereotyped as rule-followers, not all Germans are showing the same commitment to mask-wearing and social distancing as during the months when they had the pandemic under control.

In some districts such as Bautzen and Goerlitz in Saxony state – where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has the most support – the incidence of Covid-19 is three times the national rate.

The AfD often marches in anti-Covid rallies with anti-maskers, conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccination campaigners.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for a “mega lockdown” to avoid catastrophe while the country still awaits mass-vaccination, reports Deutsche Welle Correspondent Chelsey Dulaney.

Germany has only vaccinated about 1% of its population against Covid-19 – a lower proportion than the US (3%) and the UK (about 5%).

Israel is leading the world - more than 20% of its entire population has received their first dose, and the government there aims to vaccinate the entire population by March.

Germany reported the highest number of deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic this week.

Its fatality rate is now even worse than that of the United States.

Despite this, German businesses – unlike their counterparts in most of the developed world – continue to resist remote working.

Only 14% of employees worked from home at the end of last year.

Kieno Kammies interviewed Dulaney.

Though the subject matter was serious to the extreme, the interview ended on an uplifting note, with Kieno playing Max Hurrell’s “ZOL” to an amused Dulaney.

The situation in Germany has really deteriorated… got so much praise in the first couple of months of the pandemic… Now, the death rate is higher than that of the US – a pretty shocking turn of events…
Chelsey Dulaney, correspondent - Deutsche Welle

It’s becoming more deadly here. Hospitals are struggling… 11 of 16 hospital systems in the federal states are running out of room…
Chelsey Dulaney, correspondent - Deutsche Welle

We’ve been in a hard lockdown since the middle of December, but it’s clearly not working. People are still going out too much. People are still working in offices too much… A potential ‘mega lockdown’ [is looming] … We will see stronger rules. Federal Ministers meet next week to discuss this this ‘mega lockdown’.
Chelsey Dulaney, correspondent - Deutsche Welle

The vaccination campaign is going too slowly… We’re clearly lagging behind… More people will die… it’s catastrophic… There’s a shortage of vaccines here, and there’s chaos on the ground…
Chelsey Dulaney, correspondent - Deutsche Welle

We see fewer and fewer people working from home. In the first lockdown, almost 30% of people were working remotely. It’s now 14%... Employers haven’t set up the infrastructure… Many employees don’t wear masks when they’re at the office…
Chelsey Dulaney, correspondent - Deutsche Welle

Listen to the interview in the audio below.