Germany has passed the peak of the wave of omikron infections. That means that corona policy can be relaxed, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told Bild newspaper.
Lauterbach came up with the optimistic message in the run-up to Wednesday’s summit meeting. Then Chancellor Olaf Scholz and leaders of federal states will discuss proposals to lift the strictest corona measures in the coming weeks.
The minister emphasized that, in his view, a sensible corona policy has been pursued. “We have been able to significantly reduce the number of deaths,” he told the newspaper. “We have weathered this omikron wave compared to other countries well.”
Germany reported nearly 160,000 new corona cases on Tuesday. Social Democrat Lauterbach, himself an epidemiologist, had previously predicted that the number of daily infections could rise to 400,000. That level has not yet been reached.