[ad_1]
Bavaria demands one set of rules for everyone, Saarland and Berlin want a stricter mask requirement, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt reject that: There is much to discuss at today’s Corona summit.
By Anita Fünffinger, ARD capital studio
In the afternoon, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and the prime ministers of the federal states will mainly discuss further steps in the fight against the corona pandemic virtually. Action is needed: autumn is here and the number of infections is also increasing in Germany.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert does not want to be asked for an agenda. Perhaps on Monday lunchtime, when asked about it, there was actually no agenda for the Chancellor’s talks with the heads of government of the federal states. But you may not want to say how many different ideas from different federal states have already leaked into the Chancellery. What should, what should, what can happen now in Germany? For Seibert, that’s not the point at all. One should simply “stick with what is reasonable.”
Private parties and busy pedestrian streets
“If reason doesn’t help, then there must be control.” This phrase comes from the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder. But it could also come from the mouths of other country leaders. Many prime ministers are watching the rising number of infections with concern. Tobias Hans de Saarland demands a clear signal against unmasked parties and gatherings. Berlin’s ruling mayor, Michael Müller, says: “I assume that we will actually have to re-impose restrictions on these celebrations in public spaces; we cannot allow that to happen.”
Alcohol and too many people in one place are a problem. And a party doesn’t even have to take place in closed rooms – a full pedestrian zone is sometimes enough for the virus to spread. The executive director of the Association of Cities and Municipalities, Gerd Landsberg, is explicitly in favor of the requirement of a mask. He asks for masks in public places, “where you can’t keep your distance.”
In the Fax machines get hot for health authorities
The increasing number of infections is a big problem, especially for health authorities. According to the government spokesman, Seibert, the number of infections is so high in some places that health authorities are “at the limit” to handle the registry and send the data.
The offices have several construction sites. Fax machines overheat. Because some data is not yet transmitted by email. And the authorities have very few people. In addition to the Bundeswehr, employees of the medical service of health insurance companies collaborate. But exactly this regulation will expire on September 30. There are demands on the federal government to urgently extend this temporary arrangement.
Unlikely smooth line
While Bavarian Prime Minister Söder was quick to press ahead with his colleagues from the country ahead of the meeting, demanding “a uniform, binding, proportionate and reliable set of rules that would then be applied throughout Germany,” some of his colleagues posted clear verbal stop signs.
Both CDU Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer of Saxony and his party friend Reiner Haseloff of Saxony-Anhalt do not think of a general tightening of the measures. Haseloff, in particular, has experience in demonstrating the independence of his status as Prime Minister. When it came to a minimum fine of 50 euros in August for violations of the mask requirement, Haseloff left. That will not happen in Saxony-Anhalt because the people of their state are sensible.
