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The corona virus is spreading faster in many EU countries. Chancellor Merkel again asked for caution and reason. Meanwhile, the heads of country argue about the correct reaction to the high number of cases in Germany.
In view of the increasing number of corona cases in “actually almost all parts of Europe”, Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for discipline in complying with precautionary measures. “The situation continues to be serious,” stressed the CDU politician in a video link in the European Committee of the Regions.
“We have to show that we have learned our lesson,” Merkel said. What has been achieved so far should not be gambled and a second block should be avoided.
“We have to ask the people of Europe to be careful, respect the rules, keep your distance, wear mouth and nose protection and do everything possible to contain the virus and maintain our economic activity.”
The chancellor urged that financial aid from the so-called reconstruction fund, which the heads of state and government of EU members agreed in July, be paid as soon as possible. But the EU Parliament has yet to approve the € 750 billion aid package. Negotiations with the agency should continue tomorrow.
Tough debate expected on new corona measures
For Chancellor Merkel, the issue of the corona pandemic will also be at the top of the daily list tomorrow, but at the federal level. For the first time since mid-June, he will meet with the prime ministers of the federal states at the Chancellery. According to the daily “Bild”, the head of the chancellery, Helge Braun, justified the need for a face to face meeting with the heads of the state chancellery with the increasingly dramatic infection situation in Germany. We must have an open debate that may have “historical dimensions”, it was quoted in reference to the participants.
Virus infections have been on the rise again in Germany for weeks. Several areas nationwide are already considered risk areas.
Söder: “I have to slow down Corona”
It threatens to be a difficult debate, because the country’s leaders are divided on how to react to the increased number of cases. Slogans in tomorrow’s discussion include a ban on housing for citizens in risky areas or a uniform fine for violations of Corona’s requirements, especially the mask requirement.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder spoke in favor of clearer rules: “Now we have to slow down Corona before we have to make a real emergency stop,” the CSU chief said after a meeting of the state government in Munich.
Söder came out in favor of an expanded mask requirement across Germany, so the pandemic could be better kept under control. Söder mentioned public spaces, public buildings, and elevators as examples. “Where is the best approach for more masks?” This catalog now needs to be developed.
“We have to look the truth in the eye, we are in a very serious situation. We are about to lose control,” said Söder. This is evident in many neighboring countries “there are extremely negative signs around us.”
Also Schwesig against loosening
The Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig, sees it in a similar light. She spoke to herself in ARD morning magazine Against easing: “We need a clear and strict line. At a time when the numbers are increasing in Germany, it cannot be decreasing.”
Instead, the SPD politician called for stricter rules, “especially in high-risk areas.” He also defended the controversial accommodation ban: “We did well with our strict rules from the beginning in the Corona period. We have the lowest infection rates, although we have received three times more tourists than humans are in the Country.” That shows that the rules work well.
Most federal states decided last Wednesday that citizens of places with a very high number of corona infections can only be housed when traveling within Germany if they can present a negative corona test that is no more than 48 hours old. This should work for travelers from areas with more than 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days. It is true that tomorrow the issue will be discussed.
Günther confirms regional adaptation of the rules
Similar sounds come from Schleswig-Holstein: From the point of view of Prime Minister Daniel Günther, it has been useful to adapt the corona measures that have been decided on to the regional infection process in the individual federal states:
“To dismiss this success now as small states and rant about patchwork rugs, I consider a pretty stupid talk.”
The economy resists the accommodation ban
Federal Government Tourism Commissioner Thomas Bareiß sees it differently: he called for the ban to be put to the test. “Hotels, in particular, have implemented hygiene measures and ensured security in a great effort. Another lockdown of the entire hotel industry must be avoided,” Bareiß said.
The head of the district assembly, Reinhard Sager, spoke on the “t-online” news portal of a “patchwork carpet that is difficult to follow in everyday life and great uncertainty in society.”
The general manager of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants (Dehoga), Ingrid Hartges, told the “Saarbrücker Zeitung”: “It is my well-founded hope that the federal and state governments will have to say goodbye to this form of accommodation ban.” Hartges was apparently referring to the announced lawsuits against the ban.
Extended Christmas vacation?
At the federal-state meeting, schools could also be discussed: one of the most important goals of the measures is that they do not have to be closed again. The members of the Bundestag Christoph Ploß (CDU) and Stephan Pilsinger (CSU) made the proposal in the newspaper “Bild” to extend the winter holidays from two to three weeks and to shorten them accordingly in the summer. But the resistance came immediately from the vice president of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei. He said on RTL / ntv: “In view of the distribution channels that currently dominate, I am afraid that we will cause a lot of disturbances by extending the Christmas holidays, but ultimately we will not achieve any radical success.”
