\n The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that rushing to ease coronavirus restrictions would likely lead to a resurgence of the illness as governments in Europe began rolling out plans to lift quarantine measures to get their economies up and running again.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not the time to be lax. Instead, we need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future,\u201d said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, the WHO<\/a>\u00a0regional director for the Western Pacific.<\/p>\n He said governments must remain vigilant to stop the spread of the virus<\/a> and the lifting of lockdowns and other social distancing measures must be done gradually and strike the right balance between keeping people healthy and allowing economies to function.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we move forward in this difficult time, our lives, our health system and approach to stopping transmission must continue to adapt and evolve along with the epidemic, at least until a vaccine or very effective treatment is found. This process will need to become our new normal,\u201d Kasai said.<\/p>\n Kasai\u2019s warning came a day after Germans returned to the shops<\/a> after a month of lockdown. Shops up to 800 square metres, as well as car and bicycle dealers and bookstores, were allowed to reopen on Monday under an agreement with the leaders of Germany\u2019s 16 states, all keen to start the long haul of pulling the economy out of recession.\u00a0 Schools are set to begin reopening in two weeks.<\/p>\n ‘We need life again’<\/strong><\/p>\n Europe\u2019s largest economy has relied more on domestic demand in recent years as the strength of its traditional export engine has faded, and the move echoes a slow easing in neighbouring countries, equally desperate to revive business and society.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need life again. This whole time it was like a ghost town,\u201d said Michaela Frieser, not wearing a face mask, in Frankfurt\u2019s main shopping district. \u201cThe sun\u2019s out, we saved enough money and now we need to go out and spend it!\u201d<\/p>\n Isabel Pennekamp, shopping in the German city of Cologne, was grateful that parts of the country reopened small stores.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I think it\u2019s good, because now people can get out a bit more and normality is a bit more possible again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n German Health Minister Jens Spahn said the gradual easing \u201cis a step-by-step process where, after time, we will evaluate what consequences it has had for the infection”.<\/p>\n Federal and state governments have strongly recommended that Germans wear face masks when shopping and on public transport, and some states have even made that compulsory.<\/p>\n German Chancellor Angela Merkel<\/a>\u00a0has told officials from her Christian Democrats (CDU) party that the danger of infection remained high in Germany. She told reporters it would take 14 days to see if the easing was pushing up the infection rate, adding: \u201cWe must remain vigilant and disciplined.\u201d<\/p>\n There is still a risk that contagion could surge and then restrictions would have to be tightened again, Merkel said.<\/p>\n Germany has the fifth-highest Covid-19 caseload\u00a0\u2013\u00a0behind the United States, Spain, Italy and France\u00a0\u2013\u00a0but has kept fatalities down thanks to early and extensive testing.<\/p>\n Danes head back to hair salons<\/strong><\/p>\n In line with Germany, Luxembourg has similarly decided that a selection of stores could reopen and that some schools would begin reopening from May 4. But when all schools reopen, classes will be split into two halves that each alternate between a week in school and a week studying at home.<\/p>\n