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The persistently high number of corona infections in Germany has raised questions among politicians and economic experts about relaxation during the Christmas holidays and New Year’s Eve. Currently, almost everywhere in Germany, only two households with up to five people are allowed to meet. This will be temporarily suspended between December 23 and January 1. Each federal state decides for itself if and in what amount. Depending on the country, up to ten people can meet, not including children under 14 years of age.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) said during a visit to Passau that he was considering tightening contact restrictions, including on New Year’s Eve. After the federal and state governments decided to extend the partial lockdown until January 10, Söder raised the question “if that is the only measure or if significant improvements are still needed in some areas.”
The number of infections would have to be significantly reduced, the prime minister added later on Twitter. The situation in Bavaria should be reassessed in ten days, and the possible tightening should then be “shorter and more consistent”. “The holidays and New Year’s Eve should not be a new risk,” wrote Söder.
@Markus_Soeder
In an interview with RTL / ntv, Söder welcomed a move by the state government in Baden-Württemberg, which wants to impose night curfews at hotspots in the crown. That is “one of the possibilities”, but distance learning in schools should also be considered.
Faced with the high death toll, he complained of an “ethical surrender” in the debate over the crown measures. Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) also said in a podcast on the news portal “ThePioneer” that he was concerned about the many deaths.
According to a survey, a small majority of German citizens believe that it is right for the crown contact restrictions to be relaxed at Christmas. This was the result of a representative survey carried out by infratest dimap for the »ARD-Deutschlandtrend« on behalf of »Tagesthemen«. 53 percent of those surveyed said they consider planned relaxation for Christmas days to be more appropriate. 44 percent said this was pretty bad. On the other hand, two-thirds view a relaxation of contact restrictions on New Year’s Eve as critical: 68 percent think that’s pretty bad, 30 percent think it’s right.
If he’s serious, “he shouldn’t be chilling on vacation.”
Saxony Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer threatened further restrictions from the crown on the MDR. “We are thinking about what we can do in the area of kindergartens and schools,” Kretschmer told the MDR on Thursday: “But that will be decided when we see that the current one is not enough.” Kretschmer did not include the word blocking. The closures of the mouth, school and kindergarten would result in a closure.
The SPD is also considering further steps in view of the low impact of the previous corona measures. »The numbers are still at a high level. If this is the case before December 20, you should not relax during the holidays. The current restrictions should remain until January, “said Bärbel Bas, deputy head of the SPD parliamentary group for SPIEGEL.
From the point of view of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the daily number of corona cases is still too high. With 22,046 new infections last time in 24 hours, the number was only slightly lower than a week ago. RKI president Lothar Wieler called the situation “still very tense”.
The number of deaths related to Covid-19 remains concerning: 479 deaths were recorded in one day, the second highest level since the pandemic began.
Current measures »evidently insufficient«
Economic experts also consider it necessary to reduce the number of infections more than before. “The current measures are obviously not enough to reduce the number of infections as desired,” Nuremberg economics professor Veronika Grimm told SPIEGEL. Because economic recovery is highly dependent on the course of the pandemic, it is important to keep the number of infections low.
Rather than a tightening of measures at the national level, the federal and state governments should, according to Grimm, give more importance to an effective mix of regionally differentiated measures.
Additionally, the provision of testing options by the federal and state governments after the holiday season could help keep the infection rate as low as possible, Grimm said. The scientist admitted that it was expensive. Follow-up costs without a test strategy and possibly other stricter measures in January are even higher, according to Grimm.
“From an economic point of view, it does not make sense to relax the contact restrictions”
Sebastian Dullien, Director of the Research Institute in Macroeconomics and Business Cycle
Sebastian Dullien, director of the Institute for Research in Macroeconomics and Business Cycle (IMK), related to the union, considers the exceptions planned for Christmas and New Year’s Eve difficult.. Understand the need for people to meet with family and friends. “From an economic point of view, it does not make sense for the contact restrictions to be relaxed,” he told SPIEGEL.
“When in doubt, it will take longer until we have such low numbers that we can reopen the restaurant,” Dullien said. Tighter contact restrictions are the most economically viable means of fighting the pandemic.
Increase in corona cases in Thuringia and Saxony
According to RKI’s observations, the infection rate in Germany is currently quite different from region to region: Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg recently showed a slightly downward trend. There were slight increases in Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg, clear increases in Thuringia and very clear in Saxony.
Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) does not expect a certain normalcy again for six months. “I think as soon as summer comes we will have some basic relaxation,” he said. Then many people will also be vaccinated, “so that we can go back to leading a normal life from May and June.”
