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The third wave of coronavirus is gathering speed, more and more regions are exceeding the critical incidence value of 100. It seems as good as it is impossible that further easing will be decided with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) at the next federal-state meeting on March 22.
The mayors of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony, a tipping point in the pandemic and repeatedly a site of protests against Corona’s requirements, have now addressed Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) in an open letter. City leaders are harshly critical of the state government’s crown policy and, in particular, that certain advocacy values are met, as online broadcaster MDR reports.
Accordingly, the letter, which was published in the run-up to a video conference scheduled for Wednesday, reads: “We currently have municipalities in Erzgebirgskreis that are of a size where a positive case in seven days immediately leads to an incidence of more out of 100. “This cannot explain the sometimes considerable restrictions for citizens, he continues.
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“The complete – undifferentiated – shutdown of entire industries or areas of life for months awakens the impression of lack of planning and powerlessness with increasing duration.” The comparability of incidence values is not possible because the testing strategy has changed several times in the course of the past year, the mayors argue. In the spring of 2020, only people with symptoms were tested, and in the fall, contact people without any signs of illness were also tested. With now broad-based evidence, the additionally determined cases must be placed in an appropriate proportion.
“Regulation of crown protection is too complex”
Albrecht Spindler, the nonpartisan mayor of Jahnsdorf’s roughly 5,800 residents, told the MDR. “The regulations of the Crown Protection Ordinance are too complex. As a result, we are increasingly losing the support of the population.” It is becoming increasingly difficult to explain the regulations when they can no longer be penetrated with precision.
Ingo Seifert (Free Voters), mayor of Schneeberg with around 15,000 citizens, told the station: “On the one hand, they say that we must increase the number of tests.” That inevitably brings more positive results. “On the other hand, you keep these fixed numbers 100, 50 and 35. They don’t fit anymore.” This is moving towards a yo-yo effect, in which schools and businesses oscillate between opening and closing. “That causes great resentment in the population.”
The emergency brake is applied if the incidence is greater than 100
The eight mayors who signed had signed on behalf of all the mayors in the district, Seifert said: “We think it is time to show how alarming the mood of the population is.”
In light of the significantly increasing number of new infections, the federal government urged the federal states to comply with the “Corona emergency brake” and to re-tighten state restrictions if necessary. The federal-state resolution of March 3 must be implemented, “not only in its pleasant passages, but also in its difficult ones,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin on Monday.
High incidence in the Erzgebirge
This would mean, for example, closing retail stores and hair salons again if there are more than 100 new infections per 100,000 residents in seven days. Like Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony was one of three federal states that already exceeded the limit on Wednesday with an incidence of 110. According to data compiled by the Tagesspiegel, the seven-day incidence in Erzgebirgskreis is 162.
Saxony, with its around 4.1 million citizens, has recorded the highest number of Covid 19 deaths in the entire country at 202 per 100,000 residents since the start of the pandemic. Thuringia follows in second place with 148. A total of 8,228 people have died in Saxony as a result of a coronavirus infection. Around 204,350 people tested positive.
Kretschmer: unsuccessful loosening attempt
Kretschmer did not stand up to the mayor’s criticism. In his opinion, the first attempt to relax the federal and state governments two weeks ago failed. “It doesn’t work,” he said Wednesday morning in a video conference with about 50 local Ore Mountains politicians, the MDR reported. He referred to the growing number of infections and that for weeks more and more younger patients have had to be treated in clinics. “If we do nothing, we will have higher numbers again,” he said.
There is no clear guide through the pandemic. Due to the spread of the British virus mutation, Saxony experiences similar things to Portugal, Poland and the Czech Republic. Even small changes in the behavior of the population would cause immediate changes in the infection process, he said.
“We don’t have to panic”
In discussion with 50 mayors of the Metallic Mountains, Kretschmer said that he understood the desire for more normalcy on the one hand, but that relaxation on the other hand could be wrong. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, Saxony has 1,300 hospital beds ready for Covid 19 patients. Of these, 1,026 are currently occupied (as of March 16).
If all 1,300 beds are full, Saxony will have to intervene strongly, Kretschmer said. But: “We don’t have to panic, we definitely have some time to prepare. You just have to face the situation clearly. “
Kretschmer asks the mayor for help
In any case, one could not speak of lateral movements in the number of infections in the Metallic Mountains. Kretschmer campaigned for a joint effort for testing and expansion of the test centers. And he asked the district mayors to continue to support political decisions to combat the pandemic.
Kretschmer said: “It is a very thin ice that we move on and we can break with every step. The only reason we haven’t drowned is because we’re close enough to the edge. But we won’t be able to cross the pond. “
Kretschmer: Hearing Science More Again
By Tuesday night, Kretschmann had already begged to hear from the scientists more. Political decisions made little impression on the virus. “We have to get back on the scientific path as quickly as possible,” Kretschmer said, according to a report by the epd news agency, at an online event on mental health in the pandemic.
On a psychological level, he sees the problem that the population feels powerless, that state measures are being taken. But what worries him is that after this crisis, Germany still has to be strong enough to keep up with international competition. “After the crisis we have to work with what we have experienced,” Kretschmer said.
“The accusations are gigantic”
Corona is also a very challenging time for politicians. “The accusations are gigantic, sometimes drastic in the choice of words,” said the CDU politician. He was happy that decisions are made in the team and that policy can be based on scientific knowledge, he said of his own psychological stress.
Kretschmer, who has ruled the Free State since late 2019 with Kenya’s so-called coalition alongside the Greens and the SPD, has lost much approval in the pandemic among the Saxons. A recent poll conducted by the opinion research institute Civey for the “Sächsische Zeitung” shows that currently only 36.6 percent of people in the Free State are satisfied with their work, while 47.1 percent are dissatisfied. A year ago, things looked different: At the time, 46.4 percent of respondents said they were satisfied and 28.9 percent were dissatisfied.
This is not without consequences for the values of the state CDU. After a peak in mid-June 2020, when it hit 41.5 percent, it plummeted to 31.2 percent now. The decline in the weeks since early February was particularly dramatic.
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To at least reduce the transmission of variants of the virus from neighboring countries, Saxony, Bavaria and Saarland had announced that they wanted to “vaccinate” the population in border regions more intensively. Kretschmer had announced that the state government would receive additional vaccination doses from the EU for Vogtland near the border. “We need a firewall.” In the Czech Republic, the mutant virus B.1.1.7 has become very widespread and the incidence has increased. According to data from Tagesspiegel, Vogtlandkreis has the second highest incidence of seven days in Germany after Greiz in Thuringia (537), with 374.
After open questions about the Astrazeneca vaccine, Saxony also suspended all vaccination appointments with the vaccine on Monday. “I have a quick clarification. Of course, this development puts our vaccination plans back, ”said Health Minister Petra Köpping (SPD). Since Biontech is also not currently available for initial vaccinations, all initial vaccination appointments at vaccination centers have been canceled until further notice, according to the Red Cross.
Saxony open to Russian vaccine
This means that the corona vaccines in 39 selected general practitioners, which initially started as a pilot project in Saxony on Monday, will not continue. The selected model practices will function as branches of a vaccination center. The start of nationwide vaccination for general practitioners is currently scheduled for mid-April. Since this is a pilot project, Saxony can start earlier.
The Minister of Health puts hope in the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, for which a request for approval has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). “We are open to that. Of course, like all vaccines, it has to be tested, and if it is approved, we will be happy to vaccinate this vaccine here too, “said Köpping, according to the” Sächsische Zeitung. “
