Especially restaurant owners are very disappointed. Many tried and invested a lot to ensure safety, they feel they are not the problem,
other than pubs and bars.
Public opinion pre today's announcement was about:
55% in line with govs policy
33% wanted more restrictions
12% wanted less restrictions.
Most people have understood we HAVE to follow rules or it gets ugly and gov then has would have react, with tough consequences for all, including the compliants.
About 15% don't follow the rules for different reasons:
- a certain %age isn't reached by advice due to a barrier of language, cultural differences or simply understanding
- some are unable to follow rules per se. They feel dominated and weak if someone tells them what's important to do now. They are against ANY system. Conspiracy theories are a factor here.
Right now we think Germany is a bit behind the curve compared to many other European areas and we want to buy some more time, early enough to still be able to control a very dynamic process.
It was similar in spring due to huge diagnostic capacities and early testing, also high ICU capacities.
Now most have understood we don't have an alternative.
We know those 15% are the reason for tougher restrictions but in a free society (which we want to be) you'll always have a certain number who haven't learnt to act in a responsible way.
If we want to change society towards more solidarity
we will have to start before kids are 4 years old
and lead by example. It's a multi generational task.
In the end it's about human behaviour and that inevitably means brain development. This is mainly not understood. IMO.