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In the debate over a tough lockdown on the crown crisis, politics is increasingly focused on the post-Christmas period. North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) advocates using the time after Christmas to largely shut down public life.
“We need a real New Years closing after Christmas to develop a perspective towards more normalcy again for 2021,” he told the dpa news agency.
“From Christmas to the end of the New Year holidays, chances are the country can shut down completely and thus effectively stop the spread of the pandemic,” Laschet said. “At the same time, we keep the damage to educational opportunities for children, as well as the economy and employment lower than at any other time of the year.”
The lockdown should “show the way to a better new year”
Acceptance by the people is crucial to the success of the efforts, said Laschet, who is also running for the CDU presidency. For this to happen, the set political course must be characterized by diligence, proportionality and reliability. “We are well advised to begin now to prepare for the New Year’s lockdown in a comprehensive manner, so that it is compatible, takes effect and can point the way to a better New Year.”
In Wednesday’s ARD “Morgenmagazin,” Laschet also spoke in favor of regulations that were as uniform as possible across the country. The solutions would have to be found together because every decision a federal state makes has an impact on neighboring countries. There could be exceptions in countries where the situation was spiraling out of control, Laschet said with a view to the already strict crown rules in Saxony and Bavaria.
Currently, almost everywhere in Germany, only two households with up to five people are allowed to meet. Between December 23 and January 1, this may be temporarily relaxed following a resolution from the federal and state governments. Up to ten people could meet during the period, not including children under 14 years of age. But several countries have already decided not to relax the measures during the holidays or New Year’s Eve.
On Tuesday, the reputation of the Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences after a harsh shutdown had rekindled the debate. The document should be understood as a “clear and final warning from science,” virologist Christian Drosten, who contributed to the statement, said in the “Coronavirus Update” on NDR-Info.
The holiday season is very likely to cause an increase in the number of cases. If there is no readjustment now, there is the threat of a lockdown “at the end of January and beyond all of February” with massive consequences for the economy, Drosten said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has already spoken in favor of tightening the measures and wants to meet again with the heads of country before Christmas. However, there is no date yet; some countries recently thought that a short-term crisis meeting was unnecessary.
Among other things, Leopoldina recommends lifting compulsory schooling from December 14 and encouraging people to work at the central office. From Christmas Eve, severe restrictions on public life will continue in the areas of retail, personal contacts and travel. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) made it clear on Tuesday that he was ready to shut down retail after Christmas, provided the Prime Minister’s Conference makes a corresponding decision.
In the state of Söders, stricter rules such as exit restrictions, alcohol bans in city centers and curfews at hotspots will apply from this Wednesday. Furthermore, the Prime Minister has declared disaster again.
Saxony hit the emergency brake on Tuesday under pressure from hugely high infection figures and imposed a far-reaching lockdown with effect from next Monday. This should apply until January 10th. Currently, the state has by far the highest number of new infections with the corona virus. On Wednesday, the incidence was 315 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in recent days. The goal is actually an incidence value of 50.
Spahn: “I can hardly think of a better time of year”
Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) can also imagine a tougher lockdown between the years. Its quietest time of year is actually the days around Christmas through early January, Spahn said in a live broadcast of the “Bild” newspaper. “And I could hardly think of a better time of year to lower society further, to reduce contacts.”
Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU) made a similar statement in the »Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung« in Heidelberg: »The time around the turn of the year should be used to reduce the number of infections with effective measures.”
The German Association of Cities also considers the time after the holidays to be ideal: schools and kindergartens are closed, there are company holidays, many people have holidays “and you don’t necessarily have to go shopping after Christmas”, said CEO Helmut Dedy of the “Saarbrücker Zeitung”. “So, I am promoting a kind of healthy stagnation from December 28 to about January 10.”
