Students at a high school in Übach-Palenberg, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, were back in class on 23 April.
The state's leader, Armin Laschet, has pushed for easing many coronavirus restrictions. By Kai Kupferschmidt, Gretchen VogelScience's COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center.Angela Merkel is generally not an alarmist.
But in a 23 April speech to parliament, the German chancellor warned that the country’s push to ease coronavirus restrictions was a dangerous game. “Let’s not gamble away what we've achieved and risk a setback,” she urged.Her real audience wasn’t the members of the Bundestag, seated 2 meters apart, but the leaders of the German Länder, or states.