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In Germany, health authorities sent 21,695 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in 24 hours. The RKI reported this early on Saturday morning. Last Saturday the figure was 22,964. The peak was reached on Friday a week ago (November 20) with 23,648 reported cases. Health authorities also reported 379 new deaths in one day.
The trend in the number of daily deaths had recently increased, which was also expected after the sharp increase in new infections. The total number of people who died from a proven Sars-CoV-2 infection rose to a total of 15,965. The RKI has counted a total of 1,028,089 Sars-CoV-2 infections detected in Germany since the beginning of the pandemic. It is estimated that around 711,000 people have recovered.
NRW cities complain of too much rush on “Black Friday”
The flood of clients on the trading day of Black Friday has caused problems with compliance with the crown rules in several cities in North Rhine-Westphalia. In Bielefeld, in some places in the pedestrian zone, pedestrians were so close that distance rules were no longer respected, a spokesman for the city administration said on Friday. In some cases, masks were not used.
Therefore, employees of the law enforcement office had reminded consumers of the regulations with megaphones. In addition, the city appealed to citizens via local radio station Radio Bielefeld to refrain from making trips to the city center for the time being and to postpone shopping.
According to the municipal administration, two shopping centers in Cologne also had to close their doors temporarily. According to the WDR, these were centers in the Kalk and Weiden districts. Consequently, attempts were made to avoid the traffic chaos in Cologne-Weiden. Visitors were apparently unable to leave the parking lot for two hours. In the Cologne-Kalk shopping center, a counting machine at the entrance broke, blocking access.
Scholz: “Shyness would cost us much more”
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) reported on Corona’s aid from the government in November and December at a press conference.
At the beginning of the press conference, Scholz thanked the public for their agreement with the previous measures and their participation. The evidence-based policy is paying off, as infection figures would confirm. “You can’t even imagine what would have happened if we hadn’t invested such large sums of money,” Scholz said. Scholz and Altmaier were pleased that the economy, which had suffered an “unprecedented downturn” in the second quarter, grew 8.3 percent in the third quarter.
Scholz said he was taking on more than € 300 billion in new debt in 2020 and 2021. “That’s a lot of money,” he said. In 2020, the new indebtedness planned “for a long time” will not be exhausted, much will be postponed until 2021. “We know that these are exceptional homes.” Scholz estimates at least 15 billion euros for December aid for forcibly closed companies. As in November, there should be an orientation on the previous year’s sales. Three-quarters of these need to be replaced.
It is planned to offer the bridging aid, which was previously scheduled for the end of the year, until June 2020. Now support must also be given to those who particularly need help, such as actors, travel agencies and all those who would have expected the Christmas business. According to Scholz, it should also include re-start grants for the self-employed who could receive up to € 5,000 as a grant from December to summer 2020. They also want to try to support events that would otherwise not work due to restrictions.
Scholz admitted that he had mixed feelings about the huge sums of money needed to combat the economic and social consequences of the crisis. “But shyness would cost us much more.”
As reported by the Federal Minister of Economy, Peter Altmaier, since the quarantine, since Wednesday it is possible to submit requests for November aid, compensation for the self-employed, associations and companies affected by the partial closure. To date, more than 28,000 applications have been submitted, 12,500 of them on their own. 10,000 applications have already been paid, with a volume of around 18 million euros. A total of 15,000 million euros is expected. “We cannot make up for all the losses,” Altmaier added. However, it makes sense to use November’s help as a guide. “That gives security.”
Other countries allow hotel stays at Christmas
This year, hotel stays should also be allowed for visits during Christmas in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. On Thursday, the heads of government of Berlin, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia spoke in favor of hotel accommodation for family visits, contrary to the wishes of Chancellor Minister Helge Braun (CDU). He had said: “That cannot be controlled. And tourist trips should not be made under any circumstances.”
On Friday, Lower Saxony government spokeswoman Anke Pörksen said it should be possible to stay at the hotel when visiting close friends and family at Christmas. It is not a tourist overnight stay. Since many people celebrated Christmas with close friends, in this case it is also possible to spend the night in a hotel. Also, not everyone has family to celebrate with. It is not yet clear whether hotel stays are also allowed for New Year’s Eve visits. “I guess this rule will apply on New Years Eve as well,” Poerksen said.
Schleswig-Holstein Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) told a special session of the state parliament that a maximum of two nights would be allowed from December 23 to 27. The Jamaican coalition had agreed on this on Thursday night and also coordinated it with the opposition factions. Günther justified the decision with social responsibility. For example, anyone coming from Baden-Württemberg should be able to spend the night here. And having to do it on a 40-square-meter flat would not be virologically prudent either.
Budget 2021: Almost 180,000 million euros in new debt
The grand coalition wants to take on 179.82 billion euros in new debt next year and invest significantly more money than planned in health, transport and infrastructure. That was the result of the Budget Committee’s final deliberations early Friday morning. This means that housewives are planning the second highest level of new debt in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany after 218 billion euros for the current year.
The federal budget now projects a total of about € 498.6 billion, slightly less than in the current year, when aid programs worth billions were spontaneously funded due to the pandemic. The Bundestag wants to approve the budget in the week of December 8-11.
At the 17-hour “cleanup meeting”, the housekeepers decided on several changes to Finance Minister Olaf Scholz’s (SPD) draft, which the cabinet approved in September. The bottom line is that spending has now increased by more than € 85 billion in comparison. There is now 39.5 billion euros available for bridging aid for the economy, and aid from the crown has been extended, for example to professional sports clubs. Around 2,700 million euros are foreseen for the acquisition of corona vaccines.
Large sums of money also go to aid for many households. In the next year, most citizens will no longer have to pay the solidarity surcharge, this is the biggest tax cut in recent years. In addition, families should receive 15 euros more in child benefit per month. For all taxpayers, the basic tax-free relief on which income tax is not paid increases. The housewives also decided to raise funds for the renovation of municipal facilities in the areas of sports, youth and culture, and increased humanitarian aid by 170 million euros.
