Merkel’s Covid Crisis Is Changing the Shape of German Election
- Chancellor’s botched five-day lockdown shows her waning power
- Her conservative bloc has been fading badly in the polls
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Deep in the night, in the heart of Berlin’s concrete chancellery building, Angela Merkel was at a loss.
A tense video conference with senior officials that began Monday afternoon had been at a standstill for almost eight hours. Germany needed something from the government to regain control of the coronavirus outbreak, but the chancellor had nothing that could win the backing of the country’s powerful state leaders.