German firms expect 8½ more months of restricted public life

BERLIN • German companies expect public life to be restricted for a further 81/2 months due to the coronavirus crisis, a survey by the Ifo economic institute showed yesterday, as Europe's largest economy struggles to recover from its pandemic-induced downturn.

The country's leisure firms, hit hard by the Covid-19 outbreak, are particularly pessimistic, expecting restrictions to last another 13 months, while the beverage sector is more optimistic, foreseeing an end to restrictions in 6.4 months.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 436 to 216,327, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed yesterday. The reported death toll increased by one to 9,197, the tally showed.

Scores of German schoolchildren returned to the classroom in some German states, including Berlin and Brandenburg, yesterday. Others, such as those in North Rhine-Westphalia, will reopen today.

Students in the states of Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were the first to return to school last week after the summer break, European news publisher The Local reported.

Summer holidays are staggered in Germany, so not all of its 16 federal states go on vacation at the same time, avoiding a clogging of the nation's airports and transport systems, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

There has been public debate over whether children should have to wear masks in school, and the authorities' approach has varied from state to state.

In the state of Schleswig-Holstein, which reopened schools yesterday, the Education Ministry has stopped short of mandating masks, instead urging students and teachers to wear coverings over their mouth and nose.

But already, a school near the city of Husum in Schleswig-Holstein has had to close as a precautionary measure due to a teacher becoming infected with Covid-19.

REUTERS