The coronavirus pandemic has taken the world by storm, breaking the existing structures and severely impacting the economy.
Countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and others have been raveged by the global pandemic which started from China and quickly spread across the world.
Europe has been badly hit. But there is one country in the continent which acted early, and fast, and has emerged as an example for the world. That country is Germany.
As the number of cases started rising and governments across the world imposed stringent restrictions, Germany unveiled a rescue package worth 1.1 trillion euros.
The massive package includes state-backed loan guarantees, cash injections and schemes to put millions of workers on reduced hours to avoid layoffs.
And it has been designed to help almost every sector of the society.
The German government will pay for additional unemployment benefits and new tax cuts to help businesses affected by the coronavirus.
Workers forced to stay at home by the pandemic and government measures to contain it will receive between 70 and 77 per cent of net salary from the fourth month of unemployment, a ten per cent increase on previous provisions.
From the seventh month, they will receive between 80 and 87 per cent.
The country’s economy ministry has proposed as much as 50,000 euros in monthly aid to help the stricken firms. And there are also plans for tax cut for the salaried class and heavy rebates for businesses.
Having weathered the coronavirus outbreak better than many of its neighbours so far, Germany has gradually started loosening restrictions in recent weeks.
Shops, factories and restaurants are cautiously reopening but the economic damage is far from over as social distancing rules prevent a return to business as usual.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 286 to 181,482, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.
The reported death toll rose by 11 to 8,500, the data showed.