New Delhi

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that the country will start rolling back Covid curbs in light of falling infection rates in the country. He said that the falling number of infections suggested that coronavirus wave due to Omicron variant has passed the peak. Scholz made the announcement after discussion with leaders of German states.

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The three-step plan -- which includes allowing unvaccinated people back into shops and restaurants -- will see Germany reach its "freedom day" on March 20, as media have dubbed it.

"After two years we deserve for things to be better again and it looks like that's happening now," Scholz told reporters.

But he urged Germans to remain cautious and said they would have to keep wearing face masks. "The pandemic is not over," he said.

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Germany is the latest European nation to attempt a return to more normality, two years after the pandemic first emerged and upended people's daily lives and routines.

As a first step, Germany will immediately drop a 10-person cap on private gatherings of people who are vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19. 

For the unvaccinated however, the rule that they can only meet two people outside their household will remain in place for another month.

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Access to non-essential shops will be open to all again, without checks on whether customers are vaccinated against the virus or not. Face masks will still be required, with high-protection FFP2 masks recommended.

From March 4, restaurants and hotels will be allowed to welcome the unvaccinated again, so long as they can provide a recent negative test -- a system known as 3G in Germany.

Nightclubs will reopen, but not for the unvaccinated. Everyone else will have to be boosted or provide a negative test -- the so-called 2G plus system.

The number of people allowed to attend large events including sports competitions, under 2G plus rules, will be increased. 

In a final step, the remaining profound restrictions on social, cultural and economic life are to be gradually lifted by March 20.

That includes ditching the requirement for employees to work from home whenever possible.

After that date, Europe's top economy will rely on "basic protection measures", Scholz and regional leaders agreed, "in particular the wearing of medical masks" in indoor public venues and on public transport.

Social distancing is also set to be maintained.

(With inputs from agencies)