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Laschet and Söder are in favor of new contact restrictions, their colleague from Kiel has already implemented them. The day before the federal-state deliberations, a common line emerged. But there are also fundamental criticisms.
The number of corona infections is increasing exponentially, and tomorrow will show whether the federal and state governments will find a common way to fight the pandemic. The day before, there were many indications that there might be further contact restrictions. This point is fundamental for Chancellor Angela Merkel, as she has underlined on several occasions.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder did not mention any specific requirements beforehand, but spoke in favor of a strict and uniform approach: if there are more and more red and dark red areas throughout Germany, more uniform measures are needed, of in accordance with uniform standards, and also independent of regional developments. . “The decisive objective is: reduce contacts, reduce contacts, reduce contacts.”
Laschet: “A decisive day”
Tomorrow will be a “decisive day”, said Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet. The situation is “very, very serious.” The measures were not enough to stop the development. Like the federal government, it also called on citizens to adhere to the rules: it is crucial that people limit their contacts. He did not rule out restrictions on private parties, for example. The country needs an “effective crown brake” with a clear time limit. These are not curfews as in neighboring countries, but restrictions on contact with others.
Schleswig-Holstein has already created facts: in addition to contact restrictions, there will be a restaurant curfew and restrictions on the sale of alcohol in the next three weeks.
What about kindergartens and schools?
According to media reports, Merkel also has restaurant and event restrictions in mind – therefore she wants to discuss a “shutdown light” – but with nursery and school operations continuing, figures permitting.
The closure of schools and kindergartens is not a problem for the Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer. In “Kindergartens and schools must remain open. They will remain open,” he said, referring to the Free State. It also refers to the private sphere: the pandemic must be fought where it really occurs, “and they are above all events and meetings where there is no minimum distance, which is usually the family context.”
The ministers of education of the federal states also reject the closure of schools. According to a resolution of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, the right to education of children and young people is best realized in classroom teaching. As places of social interaction, schools are of crucial importance for the development of children and young people. This should have the highest priority in all decisions about new measures.
Blocking without Ramelow
Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow would not support a blockade, if it comes at all. For him, it is primarily the path of decision-making: the Prime Minister’s Conference plays an important structuring task in dealing with pandemics. “However, this task should not be exaggerated,” said the left-wing politician.
Ramelow advocates strengthening parliaments to deal with pandemics. It rejects a procedure at the Prime Minister’s Conference, “in which draft resolutions presented at very short notice” with particularly intrusive measures such as curfews, contact bans and the imposition of a lockdown must be negotiated and decided.
“I am not a subordinate authority of the Chancellery,” he told the Germany publishing network newspapers.
Warnings from the hotel and tourism industry
The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga), however, warned of the consequences of a “shutdown light.” “It cannot be that we are the ones who suffer again,” says Dehoga president Guido Zöllick. “Our entrepreneurs need security in planning and are entitled to the fact that all measures are well founded and proportionate.”
Figures from the Robert Koch Institute showed that the hospitality and catering industry did not show relevant infection rates. “The hotel industry is not a driver of a pandemic,” says Zöllick. “If our industry is practically prohibited from working for reasons related to the pandemic, and therefore has a special burden in the corona pandemic, policy makers have to pay for the damage quickly and in full.” It’s about the survival of the industry. A third of the 245,000 companies are threatened with closing again.
Similar warnings come from the tourism industry. Even a “blocking light” would be a disaster for the industry, said Michael Rabe of the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, health authorities had last reported 11,409 new corona infections in one day. A week ago the figure was 6,868. On Saturday 14,714 new infections were reached, a new record since the start of the pandemic.
