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The Chancellor’s appearance on Saturday seemed a bit helpless. As if I wanted to scream: Why isn’t anyone listening to me?
The corona pandemic has come to a head, Angela Merkel (CDU) said on her weekly podcast: “For me, what I told you last week still applies word for word.” What followed was simply Merkel’s podcast from the week before. Word by word. The core: Merkel’s urgent call to significantly reduce contacts outside the family, refrain from traveling and also stop celebrating.
On Sunday, Merkel followed up with the leaders of the CDU parliamentary group on an internal link. “We are facing very, very difficult months,” he said according to information from SPIEGEL. You don’t have a good feeling, Merkel said of the current situation: “It can’t go on like this.” First, the newspaper “Bild” reported on the exchange conference.
Merkel is not alone in her despair. There is growing perplexity in German politics about how the rapid spread of the coronavirus can be slowed. On Saturday, the Robert Koch Institute reported 14,714 new infections, the number of Covid-19 patients receiving intensive care increased to more than 1,200. A scenario that predicted 20,000 daily infections by Christmas could already be in the next week. It can be achieved.
Even now, health authorities in numerous cities and municipalities are overwhelmed with the follow-up of the numerous cases. Federal ministries and other authorities ask their employees if they can help the health authorities.
Karl Lauterbach, an SPD health expert, is already warning of a new blockade. If it is not possible to limit personal contacts in the next two to three weeks, this could happen, Lauterbach told “Bild am Sonntag.”
The federal government and the presiding ministers of the 16 states absolutely want to avoid this. A lock like in spring is considered the worst case. Not only, but mainly for business. The situation is different from half a year ago, according to coalition circles. We now know the virus and the risk factors better and we no longer have to shut down entire areas of public life. Schools and daycare centers, for example, should definitely stay open.
But for that to happen, the dynamics of propagation must slow down. The federal government and state leaders face a week of truth. The next few days will determine how the crisis will continue and how harsh the winter will be.
The most important dates of the week
On Monday, the heads of the state chancelleries spoke about the situation in a video link. A working group of country representatives will present a concept for sporting events before the end of the month, which refers, among other things, to the soccer league. Until now, the rules in most countries stipulated that fans were not allowed into the stadium for seven days with an incidence of 35 infected people for every 100,000 people. In Berlin, however, 4500 spectators watched the Union match against SC Freiburg in the stadium on Saturday.
According to reports, some sports officials are in favor of lifting the rule with the incidence of 35. However, this is considered unlikely. It would send the wrong signal in light of general contact restrictions, several state governments say.
The Senate will meet on Tuesday in Berlin, the most affected state. The health senator Dilek Kalayci (SPD) has presented, according to “Tagesspiegel am Sonntag”, a step-by-step plan that foresees measures similar to the blockade in case the situation worsens. However, from the circles of the national red-red-green coalition, it was said that only Kalayci’s concept should be discussed on Tuesday. There will be no decisions before another federal-state round. And before schools close again, for example, there are other options, like dividing classes into smaller groups.
Berlin’s ruling mayor, Michael Müller (SPD), will also reportedly be a guest on Tuesday in the SPD parliamentary group. Then you should, among other things, go to the ideas for a new infection protection law. The Social Democrats demand that the requirements for issuing regulations be specified.
Prime ministers meet on Friday
Merkel wants to make a government statement on crown policy Thursday morning. Anyway, a debate on the issue was planned, according to the SPD parliamentary group. Now he will be there after Merkel’s speech. Parliamentarians from all parties complain that they have very little say in the fight against the pandemic. Many MPs are particularly critical of the round of prime ministers with Merkel, who coordinates many decisions in the countries.
This conference will be held again on Friday. This is followed by the annual Prime Ministers Conference (MPK). In reality, field managers are among them. But on Friday there will likely be a conversation with Merkel as well, according to the federal government and the states. Müller, head of MPK since the beginning of the month, canceled the meeting scheduled in Berlin two weeks ago and invited his colleagues to watch the video.
In terms of content, apart from the sports concept, according to information from SPIEGEL, there are no details about the pandemic on the agenda. Traditionally, the president of MPK makes a proposal, they say. Basically, however, it must be considered that this time it is a broader perspective, it is said from a country led by the SPD. With the closure in spring, it could give citizens hope with the prospect of summer, in which the crown situation was relaxed at times. But this time you need rules that people must follow for six months.
How far politics wants to go is still perplexed.
