Germany will re-open all shops and restart Bundesliga football league season before the end of May, according to a draft agreement between The chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel and state leaders.
Smaller shops are already back to business in Europe’s largest economy as long as they respect social distancing rules to slow the spread of the highly contagious novel coronavirus.
The football season could resume as early as May 21 – allowing players to isolate for two weeks before the first matches and under strict conditions without fans in stadiums.
Schools would also re-open fully before the end of May, after officials said an initial lifting of lockdown measures on April 30 had not caused a surge in cases.
At the same time, state leaders will allow outdoor sports for non-professionals and children, the sources added, they will also agree to reopen schools for all grades step-by-step, though most children will only be allowed to go to class in rotating shifts, not on a daily basis, the sources said.
Merkel will discuss the plans with the 16 state premiers today after Germany’s daily infection count stayed below 1,000 for the fifth day running.
Germany recorded 947 new cases today with a total from 164,807 cases of the coronavirus.