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“This is not the time for exceptions”: Merkel makes a forecast
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“It shows that we are notably less prepared than Asian countries”
Regarding dealing with the pandemic, Merkel said: “It can be said that we are notably worse prepared than the Asian countries.” While China has reported economic growth, “we expect a negative.”
Angela Merkel predicts an incidence value of 200 for all of Germany. “The curve looks really bad,” he says. In the online public dialogue with the students, the Chancellor clearly criticized supporters of conspiracy theories.
KAngela Merkel (CDU) has expressed concern about the development of corona infection figures and the situation in intensive care units. “This is not the time for exceptions,” Merkel said on Tuesday, according to meeting participants at the video session of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag following the decisions of the federal and state governments on a harsh blockade since Wednesday. She was quoted as saying: “We are not doing each other any good if we look for the exception again now. Because then we will have to stay locked up for longer. “
She was concerned, Merkel said after this information. For example, school regulations in individual federal states are in some cases very generous again, criticized the Chancellor. “The curve in Germany looks very bad,” Merkel said, according to participants, referring to the infection process. “We are heading towards an incidence value of 200 for the whole of Germany.”
You have to go back down to an incidence of 50 new infections per 100,000 people in a week because then you can understand the infection process. Otherwise, nothing could relax, stressed the chancellor. The chancellor was quoted as saying that she hoped “that the buying behavior on Monday and Tuesday will not make us back down.”
Merkel warned that January and February would be very tough Corona months in Germany. The number of intensive care patients will continue to rise until January, the chancellor said, according to Reuters information. “We have a very high utilization of intensive care beds,” he said. There are two reasons for this: on the one hand, the number of corona patients is increasing daily. On the other hand, many beds would be dropped because there are no caregivers. Crown patients would also have to be treated longer and more elaborately than patients with many other diseases. The highest occupancy is not expected until January. The reason is that the number of new positive tests continues to increase, and courses of serious diseases only occur two to four weeks after infection.
Merkel said she was relieved by the decision of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which plans to present its report on the approval of the vaccine by the pharmaceutical companies of US-based Pfizer and its Mainz partner Biontech on December 21. After this information, Merkel said that it was good that there was no emergency approval of the vaccine like in other countries. The government was satisfied with the news.
Merkel in exchange with students
Merkel had already exchanged ideas with university students and employees in the morning. Merkel expects to return to regular operations at German universities in the second half of 2021. She is assuming that “more normalcy could prevail again in the fall semester.” In the online citizen dialogue, however, he also noted that the winter would be very “harsh”.
Some participants noted that extending the study period is often not economically feasible. Many part-time jobs have collapsed. “We still have to pay the semester ticket,” complained one participant. According to a survey by the German Student Union, two-thirds of students recently worked. For 50 percent, work is the main source of funding during their studies.
Another point of criticism from the students: Due to the measures, practical tests could not be carried out in some federal states. That is a competitive disadvantage.
In addition to these problems, it was also about dealing with the crown deniers and the “lateral thinking” movement. A student asked the Chancellor how he and his friends should treat them better. “I don’t have the perfect answer,” Merkel confessed. But politicians are very concerned about the problem.
The question needs to be investigated: “How can we say goodbye to the world of facts and enter a world that speaks a different language, so to speak, and which we cannot even reach with our language based on facts?” “A real refusal to argue.” It is very difficult to get someone back. Merkel called for a constant fight against so-called conspiracy theories in Germany. “This is basically an attack on our entire way of life.”
Merkel in online dialogue with students
Source: dpa / Tobias Schwarz
Since the Enlightenment, Europe has followed the path of, so to speak, obtaining a fact-based world view. “And if a worldview suddenly drifts away or is anti-factual, then that is, of course, very difficult to reconcile with our entire way of life.” The usual discussion doesn’t help. “That is why it is a special challenge for us.”
Regarding dealing with the pandemic, Merkel said: “It can be said that we are notably worse prepared than Asian countries.” While China has reported economic growth, “we expect a negative.”
