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Countries have been discussing the Crown rules for December with Chancellor Merkel for hours. Apparently there are upfront deals, for example for retail or New Years Eve pranks. But controversial points remain.
Basically, the crown course is well defined by the federal and state governments for winter. Therefore, people in Germany must be prepared for more stringent requirements in December, especially regarding the number of contacts. Merkel and the country’s chiefs have been advising by videoconference since 2 pm At the summit, the loosening was “not thought about”, NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet said ahead of time with a view to the continued high number of infections.
Against crowds in stores
The first deals leaked out of the talks. Apparently, there should be stricter requirements for retailers. To avoid overcrowding, especially during the Christmas business, a maximum of one person should be allowed to stay in the stores within ten square meters if the store has a sales area of up to 800 square meters. In larger stores, starting at 801 square meters, only one person should be allowed to stay in 20 square meters. The federal government had initially requested a general limitation of one person to 25 square meters.
New strategy for hotspots
In addition, there should be a new access point strategy, this was requested by the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder. If the so-called incidence exceeds 200 new infections per 100,000 population in seven days, there should be additional restrictions. These include additional regulations in the area of schools, as well as other contact restrictions.
It seems indisputable that the partial lockdown, initially limited to late November, is expected to extend to the entire country until December 20. Both the gastronomy and the leisure and cultural facilities will remain closed until then. It is not clear whether restaurants and hotels will be allowed to reopen during the holidays and the turn of the year. However, presumably they should remain closed: the bill notes that “comprehensive restrictions may also be required beyond the turn of the year.”
Contact restrictions are also likely to be tightened: only a maximum of five people from two households should be allowed to gather; children under 14 are not counted. Only Schleswig-Holstein wants to withdraw and stick to the currently applicable rules of contact.
No firecrackers in public places
Some more personal encounters should be allowed across the country on Christmas days. With a maximum of ten people, it should be done. To what extent that relaxation also applies on New Year’s Eve is still a matter of controversy. Bavarian Prime Minister Söder came out in favor of strict contact restrictions, even on New Year’s Eve, as opposed to the goal of most countries. “Because Christmas is the family holiday, New Year’s Eve is, of course, more the friend’s holiday,” he said. ARD morning magazine. I’d rather be more consistent at the turn of the year than at Christmas.
However, people should, if possible, avoid the traditional New Year’s Eve. The use of pyrotechnics must be completely prohibited in crowded squares and streets to prevent larger groups from forming: the federal and state governments agreed to this, according to information from the German press agency.
Previous Christmas holidays
The start of the Christmas holidays will be largely uniformly regulated this year due to the corona pandemic. They are supposed to start on December 19. When starting the holidays the weekend before the holidays, the contacts before Christmas should be reduced as much as possible, according to the draft. Only Bremen and Thuringia want to establish individual regulations for the start of the holidays.
Bavaria wants the mask to be mandatory in schools
Bavaria is also pushing for stricter measures for schools in the hotspots of Corona. “We need masks in schools, for students, but also for teachers.” In addition, at critical points, especially in the upper grades, there should be a shift to an alternate teaching model to reduce the density of school operations.
The Chancellery also called for stricter requirements for schools in hotspot regions. However, Merkel was initially unable to enforce this proposal at the previous meeting on November 16. School policy is a state matter, the federal government can only make suggestions.
NRW Prime Minister Laschet again promoted face-to-face teaching. “The kitchen table at home in a two- or three-bedroom apartment is not the best place to learn. The best place to learn is school,” said the CDU politician.
