German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced that the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany is over.
According to Politico, Lauterbach said this at a press conference on Wednesday.
The minister made this assessment based on the study of virus variants, vaccination rates and hospitalizations.
"We successfully overcame the pandemic in Germany, and what's more, with a good balance," the head of the ministry announced.
Lauterbach claimed that Germany's strategy for overcoming the coronavirus has generally worked. However, he added, there are things that, in retrospect, should have been done differently.
"I believe that the long closing of schools was not so necessary," the minister admitted.
The last meeting of the government's expert council on COVID-19 was held in Germany on Tuesday.
After this Friday, all of the government's protective measures against the pandemic will cease to apply, including the wearing of masks for hospital visitors. This requirement has been in effect until now.
The broader covid-19 restrictions in the country began to be lifted even earlier. In early February, public transport in Germany was allowed to travel without masks for the first time in almost three years.
Also, the German authorities canceled the rule of wearing masks in long-distance trains.
