The government of Germany initially responded to the COVID pandemic in the country with preventive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease in the country. With the nationwide spread of the disease from March , preventive measures were replaced by containment measures, including a lockdown from March. On 25 March, the Bundestag made the determination of an epidemic situation of national significance de:Epidemische Lage von nationaler Tragweite.
The first months of fighting the pandemic were widely considered a success. This was seen by observers to have been due to a wide acceptance of the cautious course of Merkel, whose televised speech on 18 March was considered highly effective. This success was not repeated with the second wave of the pandemic, which saw daily new cases rise seven-fold over the course of October and resulted in a second lockdown from December , and the third wave in the first months of The fourth wave of the pandemic from August [ 10 ] led to record case numbers by November, while the severe cases and deaths among adults were far lower in the previous waves due to the vaccinations.
Many coronavirus measures faced legal challenges from individuals. During the pandemic, the German government received advice from several scientific bodies. Other organizations and bodies besides the ones listed below also provided pandemic advisories for the government. The Helmholtz Association issued a statement on the pandemic in April Wieler considered the situation still under control, although he considered it possible that this may change with a future outbreak.
Information on all three criteria was sourced from Germany as well as abroad. On 15 January , based on a revision of the Infection Protection Act that had been passed earlier that week, [ 25 ] [ 26 ] the RKI shortened the duration of validity of certificates of recovery from a coronavirus infection from six to three months.
Several politicians called for the shortening to be retracted in view of the confusion it would create, given that Germany had supported an EU-wide adherence to a six-month validity. Some also sharply criticized that the Bundestag parliament would continue to operate under the six-month rule. In July , as several politicians urged for a general vaccination recommendation for children and youths aged 12 to 17 years, STIKO chief Thomas Mertens called the pressure "counterproductive", and said that there were not yet enough data for an update of the recommendation.
