Flattening the COVID-19 Curve: The Impact of Contact Restrictions on the Infection Curve in Germany.

Although Germany is coping well with the coronavirus crisis, many voices are currently being raised that fundamentally question the success of the contact restriction strategy to contain the virus. I show in this study that there is no justification for such criticism. In fact, contact restrictions have flattened the infection curve and were possibly decisive for the good German performance in the crisis.