[ad_1]
The partial closure with restaurants, museums, theaters and leisure facilities closed will be extended until January 10. This was decided by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the prime ministers of the federal states during the deliberations on Wednesday, as later announced by the CDU politician. “In principle, the condition remains as it is now,” Merkel said.
According to Merkel, Germany is still “very far” from the target values in the corona pandemic. There are a very high number of deaths to complain about, Merkel said in Berlin on Wednesday night after deliberations. This shows the responsibility of the federal and state governments. In seven days, a value of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants should be reached, Merkel said.
Söder suggests a possible tightening of the measures
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder said: “We cannot accept this situation.” It was “necessary and correct to extend the blockade until January 10.” Söder offered the prospect of even more stringent requirements. Depending on the development of the pandemic, deepening measures should be considered in some areas. “The question is whether we can keep the country in this kind of half-sleep all the time, or if we don’t have to think again sometime about going deeper and more rigorously in some places,” he said.
Country leaders criticize November aid
In the five-hour talks, prime ministers campaigned to improve November’s aid for businesses in partial shutdown. Söder said that many companies were waiting for payments. Advances anticipated above are too low. Berlin Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) made a similar statement. Merkel then indicated improvements. The question of whether there could be higher payments on account was discussed. This could be “urgent” in some cases (read more about November’s help here).
The finance ministers of the federal states had already demanded significantly higher advance payments. The mark should be increased from € 10,000 to € 500,000, they suggested. Without this, companies with the largest requests for aid in November would find themselves in considerable difficulty, according to a decision by the conference of finance ministers on Monday night. Merkel defended Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) against criticism. There is a lot of programming work that needs to be done carefully, he clarified.
Lack of concept of mass vaccinations
The federal and state governments want to arm themselves for the early start of corona vaccines. The first vaccine approvals in the EU could arrive at the end of December, the chancellor said. Müller wants the federal government to plan security for the upcoming mass vaccinations. It is necessary to regulate the invitation system for those affected, which must be uniform throughout the country. It is not yet clear which population groups should be vaccinated and in what order.
