German ’emergency brake’ plan clears last legislative hurdle

BERLIN (AP) — A plan by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to mandate uniform restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly has cleared its final legislative hurdle. Parliament’s upper house, where Germany’s 16 state governments are represented, could have held up the plan by seeking renegotiations, but let it pass on Thursday. Germany’s president signed it shortly afterward. The legislation to apply an “emergency brake” consistently in areas with high infection rates is intended to end the patchwork of measures that has often characterized the pandemic response across highly decentralized Germany’s 16 states. The measures include closures and a 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew, the most controversial element.