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Almost two-thirds of Germans 'unsatisfied' with government's Covid-19 management

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Almost two-thirds of Germans 'unsatisfied' with government's Covid-19 management
The empty centre of a shopping street in the Thuringian district of Greiz, which current has Germany's highest Covid-19 7-day incidence of 573.9. Photo: DPA/Bodo Schackow

One year after the first measures were put in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus, almost two-thirds of Germans are dissatisfied with Germany’s crisis management.

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In a survey conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of DPA, 34 percent were "very dissatisfied" and another 31 percent "rather dissatisfied" with the government's handling of the crisis. 

By contrast, only four percent are "very satisfied" and 26 percent "rather satisfied". Another five percent did not give any response. 

Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU), on the heels of a controversy over his ministry's involvement in a face mask procurement deal, received even worse marks than the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) overall. 

READ ALSO: German health minister in spotlight over mask contract with husband's firm

Only 24 percent of respondents are satisfied with his work, whereas another 69 percent are dissatisfied.

The German government had decided on the first restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March 2020. In a memorable televised speech at the time, Merkel called on the population to stand together to fight against the spread of the virus.

The acceptance of restrictions such as the closure of shops, restaurants and schools was still very high during the first coronavirus wave. 

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In a YouGov poll in April 2020, 67 percent were somewhat or very satisfied with the government's crisis management.

At the beginning of the second wave in October, the figure was only 57 percent, then only 50 at the beginning of February and only 48 percent in the last poll at the end of February. In the past three weeks, the acceptance of the government's measures has once again deteriorated significantly. 

Now only 30 percent of respondents rate the government's crisis management as rather or very positive.

READ ALSO: Is Merkel's legacy in danger as Germany grapples with slow Covid-19 vaccine roll-out?

Dissatisfaction now predominates among voters of all parties represented in the Bundestag. It is particularly strong among supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (86 percent), the Left (76 percent) and the Free Democrats (73 percent).

They are followed by voters of the Social Democrats (63 percent), the Greens (62 percent) and Merkel’s Christian Democrats and Bavarian sister-party CSU (51 percent).

The data used was based on an online survey conducted by YouGov Deutschland GmbH, in which 2,059 people participated between March 16th and 18th. The results were weighted and are representative of the German population aged 18 and over.

Vocabulary

by contrast - dagegen

memorable/noteworthy - denkwürdig

worsen/deteriorate - verschlechtern 

to be based on something - auf (etwas) beruhen

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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Anonymous 2021/03/22 13:40
The government certainly only seems to have a hammer, as they only have one way to deal with the crisis. The delay of innovative solutions and functional expansion of contract tracing to this late in the game is already a losing proposition.

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