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Due to the increasing number of infections in the corona pandemic, Germany faces more restrictions in public life. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) points to additional agreements with prime ministers this Wednesday in a video conference to reduce the number of contacts and therefore the risk of contagion.
According to reports, the Chancellor relies mainly on proven instruments of the spring. For one thing, this would mean that events would be further restricted or even banned. On the other hand, encounters in a private setting could be reduced to a limited number of family members from just two households. There could also be restaurant and bar closures, such as the imageNewspaper reported. However, the rest of economic life and school operations should be least impaired.
The Chancellor had preferred videoconferencing with the heads of government of the countries due to the increasing number of infections. On Tuesday he said: “We know how to protect ourselves.” Therefore, one can “proceed with more determination.” The most important goal of the Federal Government remains to be able to trace the contacts of as many infected people as possible through the health authorities to break the chains of infection. To this end, additional staff will be recruited from the Bundeswehr and the federal authorities.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), health authorities reported 11,409 new corona cases in one day on Tuesday. On Tuesday a week ago, the number was 6,868. “At the moment we see a growing acceleration of transmission in the population in Germany,” says the current situation report of the Robert Koch Institute.
According to the RKI, the increase is due in particular to private meetings and events. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) said that Germany is facing exponential growth. The number of new infections increases each day by 70 to 75 percent compared to the previous week. “And that means: we will probably have 20,000 new infections a day by the end of this week.”
However, it was still fully open on Tuesday to what extent states would follow the federal government. More recently, there have been resolutions between prime ministers and the chancellor by which some state governments did not feel obligated. The situation with the so-called accommodation ban developed in a particularly confusing way, but the binding limit of participants for celebrations in private rooms was also not supported by several major federal states.
In Thuringia, Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) announced Tuesday that he “would not agree” with “a closure decision” at the conference. He argued that federal government proposals would be presented to federal states too quickly – wide-ranging interventions, on the other hand, required parliamentary debate.
Günther wants to toughen contact bans
Meanwhile, the head of government of Schleswig-Holstein, Daniel Günther (CDU), wants to toughen the contact bans. On Tuesday he announced that he would “very consistently enforce number 10” in his country. Regardless of the context, this group size should not be exceeded in the next three weeks.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) spoke out in favor of the hard and fast restrictions on Tuesday. “It is better to be faster and more consistent than to delay and extend,” Söder said after his cabinet meeting in Munich. The prime ministers conference should not “re-decide something that two weeks later is out of date.” To reduce the number of infections, Söder can envision even stricter measures across the country than currently in Bavaria. “We have to comply now,” he said. He prepares for a difficult meeting on Wednesday: “One thing is clear, it will not be easy. And one thing is clear, it will not be pleasant either.” If restrictions were necessary, schools and nurseries should close last and reopen first after a possible closure, Söder said.
Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) demanded that the additional measures “be taken as uniformly as possible throughout Germany and are generally understandable.” In these weeks it will be decided whether Germany will continue to overcome the pandemic comparatively well. “We have it in our own hands,” Scholz said.
The considerations of individual politicians and scientists to decide on a strict lockdown for one or two weeks to almost dry the virus do not have any support from the federal government. In reality, they are considered impractical and socially undesirable. More recently, CDU Vice President Thomas Strobl had made a corresponding proposal for a seven-day lockdown.
