Angela Merkel’s response to COVID-19 is immediate, but who is protecting the economy?
Analysis by Taleen El Gharib, Staff Writer
April 8th, 2020
Germany’s ability to maintain an arguable and relative low death rate all while having among the highest infection rates in the world is a mystery to everyone. The country’s healthcare system seems to be doing much better than its neighbors when it comes to recovering patients. So what is their secret?
Social distancing, invasive closures of public places, limited contact with the outside world, professionals telling you how to wash your hands and go about your daily life — all of this sounds like a passage taken out of George Orwell’s 1984. Although these paint quite the dystopian image, the German government plans on imposing even stricter measures to control the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Since German reunification, no, since the Second World War, there has not been a challenge for our country in which action in a spirit of solidarity on our part was so important..” stated Germany’s Federal Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
After 14 years in office, Merkel is facing among the most difficult challenge in her career as Chancellor. And truth be told, her face on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis has been more than reassuring, with her solid background as a scientist and cool-headed character. Despite her past decisions that tarnished the German society back in 2015, many people voted that they were quite satisfied with Merkel’s CDU (Christian Democratic Union), and her approval ratings skyrocketed. The immediate response to the virus began in February, when COVID-19 was just unfolding in China. By mid-February, a proper testing system was established. By April 2nd, nearly 1 million people were tested for COVID-19.
However, how could Germany possibly prevent overwhelming their healthcare system? Although the country has a population nearly twice as large as most European countries, it took a while before their death toll hit 1,000 and by that time, Italy already had over 10,000 deaths (with a population nearly 22 million people shy of Germany’s). Well, Germany prides itself in its extremely high bed-to-person ratio — 8.1 hospital beds per 1,000 people and 6.1 ICU beds per 1,000 people, according to HealthSystemTracker. This gave the healthcare system the upper-hand in battling COVID-19, alongside the newly established testing system. Germany has quite the healthcare reputation, being among the best systems in the world. Their entire society revolves around efficiency and getting the job done. Their healthcare system is no different. Doctors want to perform treatments as timely and efficiently as possible so they could go back home to their families as soon as possible — which is a good thing!
Now, Germans above the age of 65, retired and at home, are being extra cautious regarding their health, being the more vulnerable of the population. But actually, this vulnerability extends to the younger citizens, those who won’t retire for another 15 years or so. We are reaching a slightly further stage into the crises that will follow COVID-19, not just that of health, but perhaps also finances. The economical scar that this pandemic will leave on the population is inevitable, as big companies are forced to shut down and lay off hundreds of employees. And the most vulnerable are those who are very unlikely to find another job after their companies are up and running again — that is, if those companies were to ever recover from the blows they took amidst the pandemic. The economic repercussions of COVID-19 pose a huge concern for nearly 75% of the German population. Money loss will soon dominate newspaper headlines. The government did issue an emergency budget, but it is expected that the country will lose up to 20.6% of GDP. Who knew a virus could be so costly?
If parliamentary elections were to take place now, Merkel would be in the lead. However, after the economic repercussions are well underway, how willing will Germans be to forgive Merkel? Her past mistakes in 2015 regarding the refugee crisis marred her party’s advancement in the elections that year. It appears that she might be attempting to redeem herself through initiating an immediate, effective response to the virus. However, when people begin to realize that the economical repercussions will be severe, they will not be happy.
For now, the Germans are observing and analyzing Merkel’s every move, as well as those of other parties. At this point, mistakes can, and will, cause critical economical fatigue and societal damage.