Angela Merkel's heir says Germany's lockdown treats public like children

The strongest contender to succeed Angela Merkel appeared to suggest that the German chancellor was “inventing” reasons to keep the country in lockdown after her government tightened conditions for lifting the restrictions. Armin Laschet, the chief minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, recently won the leadership of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, traditionally a springboard for the chancellorship. His barely disguised criticism of Merkel is regarded by some observers as an attempt to build an independent political profile but it also reflects widespread unease at the length of a lockdown now well into its fourth month. Last week Merkel, 66, brokered an agreement to extend the measures until at least March 7. The target seven-day infection rate has also been cut from 50 new cases per 100,000 to 35 per 100,000, as the government tries to stop mutant strains of the virus spreading.