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NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet
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“When you open stores, you can also pray in the churches”
NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (file photo). Photo: dpa / Federico Gambarini
Suburb NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet spoke in favor of reopening churches, synagogues and mosques as soon as possible. He does not believe that all companies can be saved in the Corona crisis.
“If you open stores, you can also pray in churches,” Laschet told Deutschlandfunk on Sunday. The fact that people are not allowed to gather to receive services is a massive restriction of fundamental rights, which must be justified every day again. Starting Monday, smaller stores, but also car and furniture stores, can reopen in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In their deliberations on Wednesday, the federal and state governments agreed not to loosen the ban on joint religious services for the time being. Laschet had already met with religious representatives a few days ago to discuss possible loosening.
Laschet assumes that government aid cannot save all companies from the effects of the crown crisis. “Some companies may not be there anymore,” he said. He warned against the illusion that rescue parachutes could catch all troubled and troubled companies. The total damage caused by the crisis can hardly be quantified.
The federal and state governments have launched an emergency aid program for the self-employed and small and medium-sized businesses, with which they can apply for aid of up to 25,000 euros. There are also special loan programs at state development banks. Many companies have also applied for short-term jobs.
Laschet emphasized that his political decisions do not only depend on the evaluation of virologists. Previously, the state-funded crown study of the particularly affected Heinsberg district had been criticized after Laschet presented the first interim results with investigators. These were also used to justify relaxation of the crown constraints.
“Virologists don’t tell me what decisions to make,” said the CDU politician. “What if the country falls into a big crisis? No virologist answers that.” If children who have to stay home for a long time fall into depression or the economy collapses it is equally important to their decisions. Nor is it their job. as a politician getting lost in theoretical discussions about containment or infection, which are two virological scenarios of the pandemic.
Laschet also resisted criticism of the state-funded “Heinsberg study”, with which the virologist Hendrik Streeck of the University of Bonn wants to draw conclusions about the spread of the coronavirus from the Heinsberg district, which was particularly affected. Critics had previously criticized that the study was created under high political pressure and had prematurely given the first results to the public.
