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“The closure must be carried out as quickly as possible,” North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) demanded in Dsseldorf on Friday. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Sder (CSU) and Kiel Prime Minister Daniel Gnther (CDU) made similar statements.
The best thing for the whole country is to bring the holidays early and close stores earlier, Sder said in Nuremberg on Friday. Exit restrictions and curfews are also necessary. “We can’t start after Christmas.” Gnther emphasized in Kiel that “a clear closure as soon as possible” was the only way out. So far, only Saxony has settled on a difficult close. This goes into effect there on Monday.
Urgent demands for a quick shutdown also came from the medical profession. In view of the figures, it would seem that waiting any longer “is no longer understandable,” said Uwe Janssens, president of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi). Even an immediate lock will not allow this to drop for a week or two.
The federal government also called for an immediate national shutdown. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) warned in the “Spiegel” against waiting until after Christmas with the shutdown. “The only possibility to regain control of the situation is a lockdown, which has to happen immediately,” Seehofer said. If you wait and see, the number of infections stayed high for months.
A new crisis summit of the 16 prime ministers with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is already planned, but there is no date yet. So far, Sunday has been up for discussion, but on Friday there were increasing demands for an earlier date. The conference should “take place better on Saturday,” Laschet said. Gnther even called for a summit on Friday. There should be “not a single day late.”
Berlin’s ruling mayor Michael Mller (SPD) and Baden-Wrttemberg Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) also said they hoped for a quick agreement on strict restrictions. “We were hoping to break the second wave with relatively soft measures, we have to say goodbye now,” Kretschmann said in Stuttgart. He hopes that the federal and state governments will agree on new measures.
The number of new corona infections and deaths every day rose to new highs in Germany. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 29,875 new infections with the new corona virus in one day and 598 new deaths on Friday morning. This surpassed the previous record of 23,679 new infections on Thursday and 590 deaths in 24 hours on Wednesday. Faced with the worsening situation, several countries tightened their containment measures at short notice in parallel with the preparations for the crisis summit. In Baden-Wrttemberg, area-wide exit restrictions will apply from Saturday. The house can only be left for overriding reasons. Starting Monday, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein will suspend face-to-face lessons in their schools for all eighth grade students. Schleswig-Holstein also tightened contact restrictions. Meetings of a maximum of five people from two households are allowed there, which also applies at Christmas. The only exceptions are family reunions. There the limit is ten people. Germany faces “incredibly difficult times until Easter,” Gnther said in Kiel in an emotional speech to the state parliament. He asked for their solidarity and compliance with the containment rules.
