German state becomes first in Europe to lift lockdown entirely as the nation’s coronavirus cases stay flat with 289 on Sunday

A German state has announced plans to lift the lockdown entirely from June 6, as the country’s coronavirus cases and deaths fell to a new low today. 

The eastern state of Thuringia plans to replace lockdown measures with ‘recommendations’ and take stricter action at local level if necessary. 

The plans would mark the most sweeping abolition of lockdown in Europe, drawing comparisons to Sweden’s light-touch response.  

But the move has drawn criticism from other German officials who called it a ‘dangerous experiment’ and ‘premature’. 

Germany recorded only 289 cases and 10 deaths on Sunday, the smallest increases since March. 

The country’s closely-watched R rate has remained below 1.0 for nearly two weeks, meaning the epidemic is in retreat – although it rose from 0.83 to 0.94 yesterday. 

Thuringia has seen only 2,871 cases and 152 deaths since the pandemic began, making it one of Germany’s least-affected states.  

State premier Bodo Ramelow said lockdown measures would be replaced with ‘a concept of recommendations and fighting Covid-19 locally if infection figures rise’.

Thuringia’s public health measures would change from ‘state compulsion to individual responsibility for moderation,’ he told German media. 

‘We made decisions in March on the basis of estimates of 60,000 infections – now we have 245 people currently infected,’ he said.   

Masks would not be compulsory under the new rules and a 5ft safety distance would be recommended rather than enforced. 

Thuringia had already started re-opening hotels and restaurants, and the new rules would allow local authorities to set their own rules. 

The threshold for re-imposing lockdown measures would be set at 35 new infections per 100,000 people per week, lower than the national threshold of 50.  

Germany has been widely praised for a relatively successful response to the pandemic, leading to fewer deaths than in Britain, Italy, France or Spain. 

But Angela Merkel has repeatedly urged caution and officials in other states have lined up to criticise Thuringia’s plans.