Germany’s management of covid-19 is growing shakier

A COMMUNIST-ERA joke, in updated form, has been doing the rounds on German social media. “Are there no vaccines here?” someone asks, to be told: “No, there are no vaccines over there. There are no tests here.” The gag captures the dismay many Germans feel about their state’s inability to fend off the third wave of the pandemic, even as other countries vaccinate their way towards freedom. Two factors explain the descent into misery. The first is that much of the lockdown armoury is already deployed. In October, politicians could close restaurants, bars and museums to battle the second wave. But most restrictions have only tightened since, leaving Germany to countenance hitherto untried options like compulsory testing and curfews. Meanwhile, an ever changing tangle of rules leaves citizens confused and businesses in despair.