But most school students and day-care center children will have to stay at home for a while. The federal and state governments decided on Thursday that it is not yet time for major steps to be taken when it comes to those groups. Restaurant and soccer fans will also need some more patience.

In view of the easing of restrictions which began April 20, the federal government and the states declared in a joint resolution: "It is still too early to be able to assess, on the basis of the reported new infections, whether the easing of measures has had an increasing effect on the incidence of infections despite the hygiene requirements”.

The number of registered infections rose to more than 160,000 on Thursday, but the number of new infections is declining slightly. At least 6,362 people infected with the pathogen Sars-CoV-2 have died in Germany so far. The Robert Koch Institute recommended extending the tests to people with mild symptoms.

Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of an enormous challenge for the citizens and all of the country, one "without precedent". The most important thing, she said, was to trace the chains of infection. "No experiments with people's health", stressed Bavaria's Minister-President Markus Söder (CSU). A decision was made to ease up only on the rules which "do not entail any appreciable greater risk of infection", said Hamburg's First Mayor Peter Tschentscher.

Criticism came from the opposition: FDP chairman Christian Lindner feels that there is a lack of a clear plan moving forward to ease up the rules in many areas. "Education, gastronomy and the Bundesliga are still only being postponed", he told the German Press Agency.

The details:

For the time being, the social distancing rules for public life remain in place. Merkel did not name a concrete end date on Thursday - the head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun, had previously specified a period of time until at least May 10. Until then, citizens are to keep a minimum distance of 1.5 meters from each other in public and either be on their own or with members of their own household, or with a maximum of one person from outside their household.

Sliding, seesawing and swinging shall be permitted again under certain conditions. Merkel emphasized, however, that the final decision on whether to open up would be made by the states themselves. In Berlin, children were allowed to play on many playgrounds again on Thursday. Immediately following the announcement of the federal and state agreement, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein decided to reopen their playgrounds as soon as possible, in some cases as early as the weekend. The conditions, however, would still have to be determined, and individual municipalities would be allowed to opt out.

This should be especially pleasing for those who have suffered from boredom in the past weeks: Museums, zoos, exhibitions and memorials will also be allowed to open again. But there is an emphasis that queues should be avoided. In order to ensure that the rules of distance can be observed in small and historic buildings, ten million euros has been allocated for reconstruction use. In some federal states, such as Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, zoos and animal parks are already open. Berlin museums are also scheduled to open on Monday. Other states announced openings as well.

Communal worship services are also to be permitted again - here too with rules on social distancing and hygiene. Special religious celebrations such as baptisms, circumcisions or weddings and funeral services should again be possible in small groups. Some states had already relaxed rules concerning such occasions or made announcements that this would happen. The churches have laid out conditions for religious celebrations: The Protestant Church in Germany plans services without singing and wind instruments, the Catholic German Bishops' Conference recommends quiet singing and special precautions for communion.

It remains to be seen when more children will be allowed in schools and Kitas (daycare centers, kindergartens) . The federal and state governments want to discuss this in more detail on May 6. The head of the Chancellor's Office, Helge Braun, expressed the hope that all day-care center children will be able to be looked after again before the summer holidays. According to a scientific analysis, children are just as infectious as adults when it comes to the corona virus. The team headed by virologist Christian Drosten of the Berlin Charité thus warned against opening schools and kindergartens without restrictions.

There are no changes here: Restaurants, cafés and hotels will remain closed. Recommendations are to be made ahead of Chancellor Merkel's conference with German state leaders on May 6. Merkel said it was a matter of offering a path forward. When asked whether it would be possible to travel within Europe again this summer, Merkel replied that this was not yet on the agenda.

For the time being, there are no changes here either. Merkel defended the controversial ban on opening stores larger than 800 square meters. The goal, she said, was not to have all the"passenger traffic" in the city centers. She also said that a balanced approach was necessary and emphasized that one should not only talk about opening up all the stores when it still isn’t clear when the Kitas will open. The retail trade industry had massively criticized the 800 square meter rule. The sales ban had been declared unconstitutional in Bavaria, other courts upheld the rule. For example, the KaDeWe in Berlin is permitted to reopen its entire area following a court decision. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is now overturning the restriction. State Premier Manuela Schwesig (SPD) announced on Thursday that from Saturday on, all shops may again use their entire sales area.

Orig. text: dpa

Translation: ck