CHANCELLOR MERKEL: We need to talk to each other, since the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing and a weekly incidence of over 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants is an ever more frequent occurrence. This was precisely why decisions were taken yesterday at the Conference of Minister-Presidents. Our federal system is strong. Indeed, it is one of the greatest strengths of our country, especially when it comes to fighting the pandemic. It therefore is and remains the right approach to implement all measures on a regional basis in a targeted manner. Our federal system with its adaptability and dynamism is absolutely ideal for these purposes.

But I have to say that that alone does not suffice, for no rules, regulations or measures will achieve anything if they are not accepted and observed by the people. We therefore have to discuss the issue in our families, with our friends and colleagues, in our nurseries and schools, in our old people’s homes and care homes, with our neighbours, in our places of worship, in our football clubs, choirs and elsewhere. We have to talk, explain and communicate in public spaces, of course first and foremost here in parliament, at local government level, in the social media – in words that get through to as many people as possible. I ask for your help in these efforts.

We have to take the deteriorating situation seriously. All of us must explain the dangers and thereby make people understandthe difficult situation the colder weather will bring. I am firmly convinced that the countries that will in the long term emerge as the most stable from this crisis are those where the dangers are talked about openly and transparently, where the truth is not deemed to be too hard to handle, and where political guidanceand societal acceptance and cooperation are well balanced.

At present, people are becoming less and less careful as everyone yearns for a return to closeness, for physical contact, for shared experiences, for private festivities with family or friends, or parties in public places – basically people want to be light-hearted again. I do too; I’m no different from anybody else. At my summer press conference at the Federal Press Conference Building, a journalist asked – as the last question – what I personally, as “the person Angela Merkel”, as he put it, found most annoying in these times, and what I currently most missed in my life. My answer was meeting people spontaneously, because nowadays you always have to stop and think: how should I conduct myself now? – Being spontaneous when meeting other people is what I miss the most. That’s how it is. I think we would all like to have our spontaneity and unselfconsciousness back. We all want to have life back as we knew it before, and of course this is particularly true of the young people in our country.

But we are risking everything we’ve achieved in the past few months.

We must not allow things to go so far that nationwide restrictions with high economic and emotional costs have to be seriously considered, that people nearing the end of their lives in hospitals or care homes are all alone and their nearest and dearest cannot be with them in their final hours.

I am talking to you here, because I want to do everything I can to prevent another countrywide lockdown. I’m saying that here because I desperately want to protect companies and jobs, because I want to see children in their nurseries and schools. We have seen how irksome and debilitating the restrictions can be, how they affect the most vulnerable members of society hardest, how they exacerbate existing inequalities yet further. We want the economy to recover; we want musicians and actors to be able to perform again; we want children and grandchildren to be able to see their parents and grandparents. In other words, we all want to prevent a second nationwide lockdown from becoming a necessity. And this is something we can do. We know more about how to protect ourselves and our healthcare system than we did in March. We have learned a great deal during the pandemic and continue to learn more each day.

But now we have to be careful again, and to that end we need you, the people, we need your active assistance, your engagement and your compassion.

As paradoxical as it sounds, it is sadly still not possible to celebrate friends and family by holding exuberant parties. Closeness, fellowship, attachments to other people, or even sheer joie de vivre, these still need to be expressed in another form, to which we are totally unaccustomed. We still need to keep our distance to show we care.

I thank everybody in this country for what they have made possible so far through their circumspection and consideration. I thank everybody at Land and local government level, I thank nursery school teachers, school teachers, doctors, carers in hospitals and care homes, I thank restaurant owners and train and aircraft crews; indeed I cannot name them all. I thank everyone who has helped and continues to help us surmount this historic crisis.

But it will be a long haul. We are not yet at the end of this pandemic. We have a hard time ahead of us this autumn and winter. And that’s why I would like to finish this statement with an appeal. I appeal to you all. Obey the rules that have to stay in force for the time being. Let us all, as members of this society, take greater care of each other once again. Let’s keep reminding ourselves that keeping our distance from each other, wearing face masks, regularly washing our hands, ventilating rooms and using the Corona-Warn-App, protects not only older people and people in high-risk groups, but also our open, free society as a whole.

I am certain that this historic experience will increase our sense of community and forge closer bonds between us, as hard and burdensome as things are. I am certain that life as we knew it will return. Families will be able to celebrate again, and clubs and theatres and football stadiums will be full again. And what a joy that will be! But for now we have to prove that we can still be patient and act sensibly, and thereby save lives. We must understand now that each and every one of us must still play their part. That is what I ask of you.

Thank you very much.