German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a rare public apology after she was forced to abandon a five-day hard lockdown over Easter just 33 hours after announcing it, throwing her government’s management of the pandemic further into disarray. Merkel dropped the proposal, calling it a “mistake,” after a hastily-arranged video conference on Wednesday with the heads of the country’s 16 states. She defended what would have been one of Germany’s toughest steps since the start of the pandemic but said there wasn’t enough time to implement it properly. “To be absolutely clear, this mistake is solely and alone my mistake as in the end I am the one who carries the final responsibility,” she told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday, acknowledging that the episode will increase uncertainty. “I deeply regret this and ask all citizens for forgiveness,” Merkel said. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake