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Germany's plan to end the lockdown

A draft document seen by Reuters details Germany's multi-step plan to end its lockdown, and that its government assumes the global pandemic will last into 2021.

Germany's lockdown laws are set to expire in just under two weeks.

Shops will be allowed to reopen, as well as schools in select regions, though strict social-distancing measures will still be in place.

Border controls will be relaxed, but large events and private parties will remain forbidden.

And as soon as enough protective masks are available, it will be made compulsory to wear them on trains and in buses as well as in factories and public buildings

The draft action plan says the measures should be enough to keep the average number of people infected by one person below 1.

The country has been under lockdown since March 22.

Germany has a low mortality rate among coronavirus patients compared to other European nations, which experts say is due to a high number of testing.

The document predicts a staged return to normality, backed by mechanisms that will make it possible to track more than 80% of people an infected person had contact with, within 24 hours of diagnosis.

Infected people and those they had contact with will be quarantined, either at home or in hotels.