When will this nightmare end – and how?

Europe already accounts for two thirds of the corona deaths worldwide. Improvement is not in sight, as the prolongation of the state of emergency in Germany also shows. When will this nightmare end – and how?

A “Europe that protects” had been promised by former commission head Juncker. “Europe can do more”, boasts his successor von der Leyen. And now this.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 20,000 people have already died in Europe, including more than 10,000 in Italy alone. European “protection” has proven ineffective. The EU cannot do “more” than before, but less than ever.

In Germany, the situation looks a little better. But despite the allegedly exemplary policy of the Merkel government, the statistics show more infections than in France, and worldwide Schland is in an inglorious fifth place!

Improvement is not in sight. On the contrary, it is likely to get worse before it (perhaps) gets relatively better. This is the bitter realisation of this weekend.

Germany, France and Belgium have let it be known that the originally announced two weeks of curfew or contact ban will not be enough by far.

Shortly after the EU summit, which had announced a “exit strategy” in full words, house arrest was extended until Easter for the majority of Europeans – at least.

This is worrying – because it shows that the therapy is not working as expected. At least in Belgium and France, which reacted earlier and more strictly than Merkelland, the figures should actually be better now.

But they are not – even if the supporters of a “flat curve” policy in Germany want to see the first glimmers of hope. What we are currently experiencing is only the “calm before the storm”, as even the Schönredner Spahn admits.

Things will get serious at Easter

So the nightmare continues, with no end in sight. The only thing that is clear is that things get serious just before Easter. Then, if we are not mistaken, the decision about our further fate will be made.

But who will make this decision – a freely elected parliament or an unelected council of experts? Will the surveillance state come, as in China – or a “light” version, as in South Korea?

And what about the EU?

Will it still exist in three weeks’ time, will Italy and Spain continue to play their part in this tragedy? How long will France hold out? Is a new, possibly final, euro crisis looming?

Suddenly, these questions have to be asked. Even in seemingly so stable and self-satisfied Germany. A nightmare…

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator. The original post (in German) is here