On April 20, Germany relaxed some of its quarantine measures. Small stores, under 800 m² (8,600 ft²) were allowed to re-open, on the condition that customers kept at least 1.5 meters (5 ft) apart.
The same day, Angela Merkel strongly recommended people start wearing masks in public, though she left it up to the individual German states to decided if and how to implement this measure. In Hamburg, they announced a new Maskenpflicht (mask-wearing requirement) on April 20, which goes into effect April 27, giving people a week to purchase a mask and get used to these measures.