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On Sunday, Chancellor Merkel and prime ministers want to discuss how to proceed in the crown pandemic. In all likelihood, they will decide to lock themselves up. Above all, it is not clear when it will be applied.
Ahead of planned deliberations by the federal and state governments this Sunday, there are increasing calls for a quick shutdown. Federal Finance Minister Peter Altmaier warned of a loss of control in the crown pandemic and urged swift action before Christmas. “The infection rate has accelerated dramatically in the last three days. We are again in a phase of exponential growth and we are seeing that the first intensive care units are reaching their limits of capacity,” he told the “German editorial network” . There is no way you can wait until after Christmas to react. “Now we have to clarify how things will proceed. Otherwise, the course of the pandemic will completely spiral out of control,” Altmaier said.
The country’s leaders want to discuss stricter crown rules with Chancellor Angela Merkel this Sunday starting at 10 a.m. Some countries have already imposed sweeping restrictions. In Saxony, for example, the lockdown will start on Monday. In Baden-Württemberg there will be a departure restriction from Saturday. It is considered relatively certain that the prime ministers will decide the closure. However, it is not yet clear when it should start and what exactly it includes. According to the newspaper “Bild”, the Chancellery asks that shops, schools and nurseries be closed from next Wednesday. Saxony reconstruction chief Michael Kretschmer also advocated for a joint decision against the opening of German ski areas. “Anything else would be inconsistent in view of the numbers,” he told “Spiegel.”
Vice Chancellor Scholz: “We have to do it quickly now”
Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz awaits far-reaching resolutions from Sunday’s federal-state crisis summit. “Now, in the coming days, we must make far-reaching and very radical decisions,” Scholz said Saturday at an SPD event in Berlin. The priority is “that now we help reduce the number of contacts,” he emphasized. “And that is why Germany has to accept a lot of restrictions again.”
“That has to happen very quickly now,” said the federal finance minister at the beginning of a virtual field of debate in which the SPD wants to set the course for the federal electoral campaign. In addition to retail, it is about reducing contacts in many other areas, “for example, when it comes to schools.” The candidate for chancellor of the SPD stressed that it is about protecting the health of citizens. Spring measures helped the infection rate to improve. “But the virus is back,” Scholz said. It is important to act now “quickly and decisively”. This is “the only way to ensure that the virus can be better fought.” He is firmly convinced that Germany, as a society based on solidarity, is capable of dealing with such a crisis.
“We need a combination of strict rules and personal responsibility”
Union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus also reiterated his demand for strict holiday contact rules. “I was always skeptical about relaxed contact restrictions on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Relaxation for ten people without children under 14 should be ruled out and gatherings should be limited to two households, even on holidays. We need a combination of strict rules and responsibility personal”.
At the end of a possible hard lockdown currently targeted, Brinkhaus said: “The weekend after Epiphany, the holiday season is over everywhere and all companies will start working again at the latest. I don’t think everything will come back. as of January 10. as in September “.
At the same time, Brinkhaus appealed to churches to consider alternatives to religious services. “I call on the understanding of Christian churches to reduce church events as much as possible and seek alternatives so as not to expose believers to any risk. If necessary, however, there must also be readjustments through ordinances” said the CDU politician. “Rheinische Post” (Saturday).
The head of the FDP asks that proportionality be maintained
The Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) expressed its understanding of a possible ban on singing at Christmas parties in churches. “Song singing is already suspended in many dioceses and it would also be understandable as a blanket ban,” ZdK president Thomas Sternberg told the Germany publishing network (RND / Saturday). However, it considers the prohibition of religious services unnecessary. “With a requirement of distance, reporting obligation, sanitation and consideration, church services are planned and possible.”
The president of the FDP, Christian Lindner, insists on maintaining proportionality in the new planned measures. “Now there will be a Corona emergency brake, because a sustainable strategy is still missing,” he told the German Press Agency in Berlin. “But there must be no disproportionately sharp interference with fundamental rights.” In particular, Lindner rejected the exit restrictions. “Flat-rate and national curfews like in Bavaria are unnecessary and go over the mark. There is no risk of infection from taking a walk at home or exercising outside.” Lindner emphasized: “The federal and state governments must be restrained in the dangerous situation.” Acceptance in the population also depends on this.
Intensive care physicians call for a strict lockdown
The leader of the CSU regional group in the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, called for a quick end to the classroom teaching. “Where it has not yet happened, we must now quickly switch to digital and distance learning,” he told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Saturday). Furthermore, the holidays would have to start earlier, and a strict lockdown with strict restrictions on contacts would be quickly needed. “We have to act immediately in the schools and the tough closure should start before Christmas,” Dobrindt said.
City Council President Burkhard Jung (SPD) also spoke in favor of a strict, uniform, nationwide lockdown before Christmas. “A complete blockade must be applied across the country,” said the Leipzig mayor of the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday). “It should not happen that retail is closed in country A and open in country B,” Jung said. “And the rules have to be clear, understandable and as uniform as possible. Because people have to be able to understand them well.”
Intensive care physician Christian Karagiannidis called for a strict lockdown on Monday: A full lockdown starting on December 14 could soon lead to a trend reversal in intensive care capabilities, the scientific director of the intensive care registry told newspapers. of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI). the Funke media group (Saturday). Calculations from DIVI’s new model showed “that a tight shutdown on Monday would mean that intensive occupancy would increase until shortly before Christmas and then decline considerably shortly before Christmas Eve,” Karagiannidis said. “Lower it now and loosen it again in January.”
In light of the growing number of corona infections, patient advocates are also pushing for better guarantees of safety for those in need of care. For the care of the elderly, a lockdown “does not replace binding protection measures at the national level,” said the council of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, of the German press agency. All homes and outpatient facilities need, among other things, safe basic protection against infection, twice-weekly corona tests, and daily rapid tests. It is important not only to spend Christmas, but also a crisis that will last for months.
