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In the fight against the corona pandemic, the federal and state governments have agreed to toughen measures. Public life will be closed again in some parts starting next week. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has now commented on this in a government statement.
“We are in a dramatic situation at the beginning of the cold season. It affects us all. Without exception,” said the chancellor. In recent weeks, the number of infections has exploded. Health authorities are already at their limit and it is no longer possible to trace individual contacts.
“We can no longer assign 75 percent of infections where they originated. We have to get out of this state quickly,” Merkel said. Otherwise, the current situation would mean that intensive care medicine would soon be overwhelmed.
According to the Chancellor, the measures adopted are “adequate, necessary and proportionate.” It is urgent to be able to trace again the contact chains of the newly infected. This is not currently the case.
The objective of the measures is a “systematic reduction of contacts”. Encounters would have to be greatly reduced, Merkel said, she named a mark of 75 percent. This is the only way to reduce the risk of infection. A populist trivialization on the other hand “would be irresponsible.” Merkel also warned of false information about the pandemic. “Lies and misinformation, conspiracies and hatred not only damage the democratic debate, but also the fight against the virus.” Ultimately, this endangers human life.
Boos during the government statement
The chancellor was interrupted in her speech by boos from the AfD. In view of the Crown resolutions of the federal and state governments, they called for the separation of powers, that is, the participation of parliaments. The president of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, was forced to interrupt Merkel and urge the deputies to be more disciplined. The country is in an exceptionally difficult situation, he emphasized. But Schäuble also received criticism from AfD MPs. Then he warned: “If you interrupt the president, you will immediately receive calls to order, that is dangerous.”
In her government statement, Merkel also referred to the dramatic situation in other EU countries, which are struggling with a rapid increase in new infections. The Chancellor stresses, however, that Europe is better prepared this time than in the spring to keep restrictions on the European internal market as low as possible.
“Winter will be difficult, four long, difficult months. But it will end,” said the chancellor at the end of her speech. “The pandemic is a medical, economic, social, political, psychological test. We can only face it with solidarity and with the will to establish a transparent and open exchange between us.”
The government statement is the third since the pandemic began. The crown measures are also a topic in the subsequent debate in the Bundestag.
Criticism of the resolution procedure
After Chancellor Alexander Gauland’s declaration of government, the first to speak was. The leader of the AfD parliamentary group has demanded that the Bundestag decide on all measures against the corona pandemic. “A recall dictatorship of the Crown is not compatible with our basic free and democratic order,” he said. Germany achieved its freedom with too much effort “for us to hand it over to the wardrobe of an emergency cabinet.”
The leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Rolf Mützenich, speaks of an “existential challenge”. The pandemic will not go away by itself. Therefore, the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag supports the measures that have been decided. They are “urgently needed and proportionate,” says Mützenich.
FDP leader Christian Lindner has accused the federal and state governments of making decisions in the crown crisis without going through parliaments. The Bundestag was only able to take note of Wednesday’s federal-state resolutions in retrospect. This approach jeopardizes acceptance, carries legal risks, and threatens to “warp our parliamentary democracy.”
The federal and state governments agreed on Wednesday to break the second wave of corona infections with strict contact restrictions for citizens and an extensive shutdown of all leisure activities. This is to prevent the uncontrollable spread of the epidemic. The measures will be applied from November 2 and will last until the end of November. (Read here what restrictions apply from Monday).
