Germany starts to reopen, but arguments rage over pace

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Germany has taken a further step on the long road back to post-coronavirus normality, with museums and hairdressers reopening under strict conditions, churches opening their doors for worshippers, and more car factories resuming work.

But more than a month after Germany suspended all but essential social and commercial life to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, politicians in charge of Europe's largest economy are at odds over how far and how fast to move.

There is mounting pressure from business groups and some regional governments who are anxious to move faster on restarting economic life.

A hairdresser wears a face mask as she cuts the hair of a client at the hairdressing salon 'Haarschneider' in Dortmund, western Germany, on May 4. — AFP
A hairdresser wears a face mask as she cuts the hair of a client at the hairdressing salon 'Haarschneider' in Dortmund, western Germany, on May 4. — AFP

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