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During the general debate in the Bundestag, Chancellor Merkel advocated for extended closures after Christmas to curb the crown pandemic. He called on all citizens to show respect and solidarity.
In the general debate in the Bundestag, Chancellor Angela Merkel once again called for a tougher blockade. He referred to the recommendations of science to drastically reduce the number of contacts now. Therefore, he believes that it is correct to close the stores after Christmas until at least January 10 and also to minimize teaching in schools.
Merkel thus expressly joined the demands of the Leopoldina Academy of Sciences for a total blockade at the national level. In your opinion, the recommendations are correct. “Otherwise, the pandemic will disappear again,” warned the foreign minister. Science is practically begging to allow a week of reduced contact before Christmas, before seeing grandma and grandpa, Merkel said. “If we have too many contacts now before Christmas and then it was the last Christmas with the grandparents, then we will have missed something. We should not do that.”
He also called on all citizens to show greater consideration and solidarity in the Corona crisis. “The most important key to successfully combat the virus in our country is the responsible behavior of each individual and the willingness to participate,” said the CDU politician in the Bundestag. She is convinced that the vast majority of the population is willing to continue, for which she is sincerely grateful.
“Families are under special stress”
Merkel highlighted the achievements of families in the crown pandemic. “Families are under a special stress, a special challenge in these times,” he said. You have to take this stress into account. “Everybody suspects what is happening in the family now, if in the morning you do not know if the child has a cold, can they go to school, what is happening at school, what awaits us”.
But the government has done a lot for families, Merkel said. He referred to the increase in the child benefit from next year, the tax relief for single-parent families, the reduction of the solidarity surcharge and the increase in sick days for children. In the school sector, Merkel criticized it taking too long to buy laptops for teachers in Germany. In Germany, months always pass from the decision that all teachers should have a laptop to the implementation that everyone has one in hand. “We can be faster everywhere, but there is enough money.”
Hope for vaccines
There is a ray of hope that the first vaccinations can begin early in the new year. In the first trimester, however, it is unlikely that so many vaccinations will be possible that a significant change in the population will be observed. However, there is the possibility of vaccinating the elderly and caregivers, in other words, in the areas where the majority of deaths occur. Merkel spoke out in favor of a “fair distribution” of vaccines around the world. Developing countries must also be taken into account.
At the same time, the Chancellor justified the high level of new debt in the 2021 budget with a view to combating the coronavirus crisis. “We are living in a pandemic, so we are in an exceptional situation,” Merkel said. In doing so, politicians must also take into account that public debts mean restrictions on future spending and future generations. Merkel spoke of difficult and painful decisions. Now it’s about maintaining Germany’s economic strength.
Criticisms of the AfD
The debate in the Bundestag began with strong attacks by the AfD on Merkel. The leader of the AfD parliamentary group, Alice Weidel, accused the chancellor in parliament of “disorderly and grotesque handling” of the pandemic. “They lock up citizens and destroy entire industries,” Weidel said. According to the “mallet method”, a block will be imposed that will do more harm than good.
FDP President Christian Lindner called for more predictability in the federal government’s crown strategy. “The average life of advertisements, statements and rules of conduct is getting shorter,” he criticized in the Bundestag. “That is why the most important resource in this crisis is becoming increasingly scarce, namely the predictability of government action.”
Lindner acknowledged core measures like wearing a mask and keeping your distance, but questioned individual steps in the fight against pandemics such as curfews. “These are purely symbolic restrictions that, firstly, are ineffective, secondly, they disproportionately interfere with the freedom of individuals, and thirdly, they are only intended to simulate a planned procedure for the hearing.”
