Germany's Merkel shines in virus crisis even as power wanes

In her first dress to nation on coronavirus pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel calmly appealed to citizens' reason and discipline to slow spre of virus, ackwledging as a woman who grew up in communist East Germany how difficult it is to give up freedoms, yet as a trained scientist emphasizing that facts don't lie.

n, wearing same blue pantsuit from televised dress, 65-year-old popped into her local supermarket to pick up food, wine and toilet paper to take back to her Berlin apartment. For her, it was a regular shopping stop, but with Merkel has run Germany for more than 14 years and has over a dece's experience of managing crises. She reassured her compatriots in 2008 financial crisis that ir savings were safe, led a hard-sed but domestically popular response to eurozone debt crisis, and n took an initially welcoming — but divisive — approach to an influx of migrants in 2015.

In twilight of her chancellorship, she faces her biggest crisis yet — a fact underlined by her decision last week to make her first television dress to nation or than her annual New Year's mess.

"This is serious — take it seriously," she told her compatriots. "Since German unification — , since World War II — re has been challenge to our country in which our acting toger in solidarity matters so much."

With Germany largely shutting down public life, she alluded to her youth in communist East Germany as she spelled out scale of challenge and me clear how hard she found prospect of clamping down on people's movement.

"For someone like me, for whom freedom of travel and movement were a hard-won right, such restrictions can only be justified by absolute necessity," she said. But y were, she said, "indispensable at moment to save lives."

drama was evident in Merkel's words, but manner was familiar: Matter-of-fact and calm, reasoning rar than rousing, creating a mess that hit home.

It is a style that has served former physicist well in juggling Germany's often-fractious coalitions and maintaining public support over years.

"Merkel painted a picture of greatest challenge since World War II, but she did t speak of war," influential Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper wrote. "She did t rely on martial words or gestures, but on people's reason. ... body kws if that will be eugh, but her tone will at least t le people to sink into uncertainty and fear."

Merkel's response to coronavirus pandemic is still very much a work in progress, but a poll released Friday by ZDF television showed 89% of Germans thought government was handling it well. poll saw Merkel strengn her le as country's most important politician, and a strong 7% rise for her center-right Union bloc after months in which it was weighed down by questions over its future leership.

poll, done by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, h a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent points.

65-year-old chancellor initially h Health Minister Jens Spahn be public face of government's response, drawing some criticism but has taken center st over past two weeks.

She kept that up after going into quarantine on Sunday after a doctor who gave her a vaccination tested positive for coronavirus. Since n she has twice tested negative for virus herself but continues to work from home.

On Monday, she led a Cabinet meeting by phone from home and n issued an audio mess setting out a huge government relief pack to cushion

Her vice chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who is also finance minister and a member of her coalition partner Social Democrats, has also h a chance to shine in crisis, leing way with aid pack that will allow

jury is still out on how government's approach will work, but after having run a budget surplus for a half-dece, Germany is well-prepared to offer massive aid program. Its health care system has been in good eugh shape to be taking in patients from overwhelmed Italy and France, with intensive care beds still available.

Although Germany has registered third-highest number of coronavirus infections in Europe with 57,695, it has only seen 433 people die, placing it sixth in Europe behind Italy, Spain, France, Britain and even Nerlands. Italy alone has over 10,000 de.

Experts have attributed Germany's success partially to widespre and early testing for virus, among or things.

In an

matter what outcome of Germany's virus-fighting efforts, it won't change fact that Merkel era is drawing to a close. Merkel has never shown any signs of backing off her 2018 vow to leave politics at Germany's next election, due next year.

But crisis may burnish her government's lackluster im and improve its chances of making it through to fall of 2021, after persistent speculation that it wouldn't last full legislative term.

And it certainly could put her successor on a better footing —though just who that will be is also up in air. Merkel stepped down as her party's leer in 2018 but her own choice as a successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, lasted just over a year before declaring that she would step down after failing to establish her authority.

decision on who will take over leership of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party was supposed to be me in April, but has been put on hold due to coronavirus pandemic.