[ad_1]
This year hotel stays should also be allowed for visits during Christmas in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. On Thursday, the heads of government of Berlin, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia came out in favor of hotel accommodation for family visits, against the wishes of Chancellor’s Minister Helge Braun (CDU). He had said, “You can’t control that. And tourist trips are definitely not allowed.”
On Friday, Lower Saxony government spokeswoman Anke Pörksen said it should be possible to stay at the hotel when visiting close friends and family at Christmas. It is not a tourist overnight stay. Since many people celebrate Christmas with close friends, in this case it is also possible to spend the night in a hotel. Also, not everyone has family to celebrate with. It is not yet clear whether hotel stays are also allowed for New Year’s Eve visits. “I guess this rule will apply on New Years Eve as well,” Poerksen said.
Schleswig-Holstein Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) told a special session of the state parliament that a maximum of two nights would be allowed from December 23 to 27. The Jamaican coalition had agreed on this on Thursday night and also coordinated it with the opposition factions. Günther justified the decision with social responsibility. For example, anyone coming from Baden-Württemberg should be able to spend the night here. And having to do it on a 40-square-meter flat would not be virologically prudent either.
RKI again reports maximum daily death rate
In Germany, the number of coronavirus cases exceeds one million. According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), there were 22,806 new infections in 24 hours; the total number of positive tests on Friday morning is 1,006,394. The RKI also reports a new record in death rate for the second time this week. : In one day, 426 people died as a result of Covid 19 disease. This increases the number of deaths to 15,586. The previous negative peak was reached on Wednesday at 410. The RKI estimates that around 696,100 people have recovered.
On Thursday night, data from Johns Hopkins University in the US had already shown that the one million mark for corona infections recorded in Germany had been surpassed. Researchers’ data is regularly updated and therefore often shows a higher level than official figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) or the countries in question. In some cases, however, the numbers were later corrected.
According to RKI’s management report on Thursday night, the so-called seven-day R-value was 0.90 (previous day: 0.87). This means that 100 infected people infect 90 more people. The value represents the onset of the infection eight to 16 days ago. If the value is below 1 for a long time, the infection rate decreases.
Budget 2021: Almost 180,000 million euros in new debt
The grand coalition wants to take on 179.82 billion euros in new debt next year and invest significantly more money than planned in health, transport and infrastructure. That was the result of the Budget Committee’s final deliberations early Friday morning. This means that housewives are planning the second highest level of new debt in the history of the Federal Republic after 218 billion euros for the current year.
The federal budget now projects a total of about € 498.6 billion, slightly less than in the current year, when aid programs worth billions of dollars were spontaneously funded due to the pandemic. The Bundestag wants to approve the budget in the week of December 8-11.
In the more than 17-hour “clean-up meeting”, the housekeepers decided on several changes to Finance Minister Olaf Scholz’s (SPD) draft, which the cabinet approved in September. The bottom line is that spending has now increased by more than € 85 billion by comparison. There is now 39.5 billion euros available for bridging aid for the economy, and aid from the crown has been extended, for example to professional sports clubs. Around 2,700 million euros are foreseen for the acquisition of corona vaccines.
Large sums of money also go to aid for many households. In the next year, most citizens will no longer have to pay the solidarity surcharge, this is the biggest tax cut in recent years. In addition, families should receive 15 euros more in child benefit per month. For all taxpayers, it increases the basic tax-free allowance on which no income tax is paid. The housewives also decided to raise funds for the renovation of municipal facilities in the areas of sports, youth and culture, and increased humanitarian aid by 170 million euros.
Merkel wants to close all ski areas in Europe
Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the new Crown resolutions in the Bundestag. She believes that the easing after the partial closure of November “is not responsible.” In some cases, re-sharpening is necessary. “If we waited until the intensive care units were full, it would be too late.”
Before the partial shutdown, it was “five to twelve,” Chancellor Merkel said. Contacts were said to have declined by about 40 percent as a result of the measures in place in November. The dramatic exponential growth of new infections has stopped, but there is still no change in trend. “The number of cases is increasing to a high level, too high.”
Therefore, they assume that the restrictions for the days leading up to Christmas would still apply in early January. Germany has a strong healthcare system that has weathered the pandemic so far. And you have to make sure it stays that way. “We certainly have other difficult months ahead of us.” But everyone can actively contribute to getting through them well. The head of the chancellery, Helge Braun, even said Thursday morning that he thought an extension of the measures until March was necessary.
Looking ahead to the upcoming winter holidays, Merkel recommended that all ski areas in Europe close before January 10. “Ski season is coming.” Tourist trips should not be made, any unnecessary contact should be avoided. “We will try to vote in Europe if we can close all the ski areas. Unfortunately, when you hear the Austrian announcements that we can do it so easily, it doesn’t seem like that, but we will try again.”
The federal and state governments decided Wednesday night that the partial shutdown with the closure of restaurants, theaters, gyms, and entertainment facilities, among other things, would run through Dec. 20. Private gatherings with friends, relatives, and acquaintances should be limited to a maximum of five people from your own household and another household. Children up to 14 years old should not be subject to this rule. But Christmas should be able to be celebrated in close family and friends with up to ten people, not including children up to 14 years old. The chancellor also warned in the Bundestag that everyone should consider whether this limit should really be exhausted.
Merkel also made it clear that she knew what the continued restaurant closures meant, for example, to those affected. That is why it is important that the federal government take responsibility for billions to mitigate the economic consequences. Areas particularly affected by the restrictions “bear the burden for society as a whole,” Merkel said, announcing “December aid.”
But the Chancellor also said that the federal government cannot provide unrestricted financial aid worth billions. It is a “huge contribution of large indebtedness” to the federal budgets for 2020 and 2021. “This is necessary, this is necessary. But here too, we always have to talk about it, everything goes hand in hand.”
The leader of the parliamentary union group Ralph Brinkhaus criticized the fact that compensation payments for the catering industry, for example, have so far been borne exclusively by the federal government. “I hope the federal states will get financially involved in this matter,” Brinkhaus said. It could not be that the federal states made the decisions and then did not participate in supporting the affected companies. This has to change.
Merkel also told the Bundestag that there were hopes for vaccines before Christmas. These should be offered to people who “work in the medical and nursing fields”.
For the AfD opposition, the leader of the parliamentary group Alice Weidel criticized the renegotiation of resolutions that deeply interfere with the life and rights of citizens and companies. It is not a government business who meets whom in their private rooms, when or in what context someone is celebrating Christmas. “That is inappropriate and that is excessive.”
The leader of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Lindner, considers that the extension of the measures is fundamentally correct, but criticized the individual conditions. The desired “November breakwater” has turned into a “December stalemate.”
