The country’s president gave Olaf Scholz his official certificate of office, beginning a new chapter for Europe’s largest democracy. Angela Merkel received a standing ovation in Parliament.
Merkelâs Latest Pandemic Challenge: Leading as a Lame Duck
The German chancellor, known for her cool, solution-oriented response in the pandemicâs early stages, faces her greatest challenge yet as cases rise and patience plummets months before her final term ends.
A vaccination center in Munich last month. Germans are clamoring for clarity about the countryâs vaccination program.Credit.Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times
BERLIN â What a difference a year makes.
In late March 2020, Chancellor Angela Merkel was winning praise the world over for her ability to explain the science behind the coronavirus pandemic and galvanize Germanyâs state leaders to line up behind a nationwide strategy founded in testing and contact-tracing that held the number of deaths at bay.
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Passengers wearing protective face masks in Berlin. Requirements on public transportation tightened this week.Credit.Stefanie Loos/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
New mask rules in Europe
As European countries brace for a potential surge of coronavirus cases linked to the new variants, countries have reimposed strict lockdown measures, and some have made “medical” grade masks mandatory in some areas.
Starting this week in Germany, N95 or surgical-grade masks are compulsory for people on public transportation, in office spaces and in shops. The higher-grade mask will also become mandatory in Austria, and France could follow, despite criticism that the more expensive N95 will be out of reach for many low-income earners.