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'More than half' of Germans lose trust in government's handling of pandemic

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
'More than half' of Germans lose trust in government's handling of pandemic
A face mask lying on the ground in Duisberg on Wednesday evening. Photo: DPA

For the first time in the coronavirus pandemic, more than half of Germans hold a negative view of the government’s management of the crisis, according to a new survey.

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Just over half of those surveyed (54 percent) in an ongoing study felt that German politicians are overwhelmed by their duties, and hence not carrying them out as effectively.

This marks the highest percentage in the pandemic.  

In the summer, the figure stood at 40 percent, whereas it was 46 percent during the first partial lockdown in April 2020. 

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The survey "The Fears of the Germans" has been regularly commissioned by Wiesbaden-based R+V Insurance for almost 30 years and is considered to give an overview of how people feel about politics, the economy, family and health. 

Most recently, on January 25th and 26th, around 1,000 adults between the ages of 16 and 75 were surveyed by opinion researchers.

For Manfred Schmidt, political scientist at the University of Heidelberg, the survey results show declining confidence in politics. 

Schmidt sees Germany’s continually extended shutdown, in effect since November 2nd, and the ongoing vaccine debate as likely causes. 

READ ALSO: 'Miracles are not going to happen': Row breaks out over Germany's slow Covid-19 vaccine rollout

It was a fundamental mistake, he said, to shift vaccine procurement to the EU level when national strategies focusing just on Germany would have worked better. 

Schmidt said that what was missing at the political level was the clear admission of mistakes from which lessons could be learned.

READ ALSO: Can Germany get on board with a 'no Covid' strategy?

Vocabulary

sensitivities - (die) Befindlichkeiten 

weakening - nachlassend

procurement/acquisition - (die) Beschaffung 

admit/acknowledge - eingestehen 

We're aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

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