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 Merkel wants to reopen parts of society in three stages, starting
with expanding the number of personal contacts, followed by schools
and vocational schools and thirdly sports groups, restaurants and
culture, according to participants.
She told the meeting it was important that steps to lift
restrictions did not lead to renewed setbacks by causing virus
variants to spread further.
Germany has extend restrictions to curb the spread of the
coronavirus until March 7, though elementary schools and nurseries
started reopening in 10 German states on Monday and hair salons are
due to open their doors again next week.
The number of new daily infections has stagnated over the past week
with the seven-day incidence rate hovering at around 60 cases per
100,000. On Monday, Germany reported 4,369 new infections and 62
further deaths.
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 Starting on Tuesday, Merkel's
chief of staff Helge Braun will convene a
working group to propose a concept for the next
meeting of the federal government with state
premiers on March 3, the sources said.
Health Minister Jens Spahn also told the meeting
he wants to start administering vaccines at
family doctors' practices as soon as 3-5 million
doses are delivered weekly.
Production problems and delayed deliveries have
frustrated Germany's rollout of vaccines so far.
As of Sunday, just over 3.3 million people had
received at least one dose of vaccine,
equivalent to 4% of the population.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Caroline
Copley; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Paul
Carrel)
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