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Merkel wants to meet with the prime minister next week
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Lauterbach – “It’s a race against time”
Despite the measures taken, Germany is not controlling the corona virus. The federal government wants an even tougher lockdown due to new mutations. Karl Lauterbach, a health expert at SPD, explains why this is so important.
The chancellor is deeply concerned about the mutation of the British crown. He does not want to waste time and discuss the situation with the heads of country next week. According to media reports, the Foreign Ministry is also considering tightening the blockade.
secondChancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) wants to discuss how to proceed with the crown pandemic with state ministers next week and not as planned on January 25. Merkel made this clear Thursday night at the CDU presidium’s online meeting in preparation for the CDU electoral party conference on Friday and Saturday, according to information from news agencies dpa and AFP from various participants.
There is currently no margin for vacancies. Merkel did not mention a date for the next round with the heads of government of the countries.
In the next week, the development of the pandemic should also be discussed at the European level with all EU heads of state and government, the foreign minister said after this information. The variant of the coronavirus that has emerged in the UK is spreading much faster than the original form, scientists are very concerned. Everyone believes that the mutation of the virus is very aggressive and that its spread should be slowed down. Act now.
Of the digital inquiries in the CDU executive committee after the presidium meeting, Merkel was quoted as saying they were in a race against time and couldn’t wait until January 25. Only stricter measures could stop exponential growth. The mutation caused “great concern”.
According to more information, Monday or Tuesday of next week is being discussed as the date for the next Prime Minister’s Conference with Merkel. But there has not yet been a determination. Hessian Prime Minister Volker Bouffier said after this information that the next meeting should take place as soon as possible. One of the axes of the consultations should be that of the nursing homes. Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) had previously advocated for a date prior to January 25 for upcoming deliberations.
Will the lock be reset?
According to several participants, Merkel rejected a report in the daily “Bild”, according to which the Chancellery was considering the discontinuation of local and long-distance public transport. At the board meeting, the Chancellor said after further information, no one wanted to close the local public transport (ÖPNV). Rather, the local public transport system should be relieved by the fact that employees work more in the home office, and therefore contacts can be further reduced.
The newspaper “Bild” and the “Tagesspiegel” had reported that the Chancellery and several federal states were considering closing public transportation to reduce the number of infections. Greater restrictions on freedom of movement are also being debated. The Federal Ministry of Transport is also examining the consequences of the traffic closure.
According to the “Bild”, the head of the Foreign Ministry, Helge Braun, also warned of the possible effects of the crown mutation on the infection process. The Foreign Ministry “has no evidence, but it does have evidence” of the danger of the new variant of the virus. Act now, Braun explained accordingly. Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans said after the “Bild” report: “We have to react to the mutation. Otherwise, the citizens will not forgive us. “
According to statistics from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), until now it has not been possible to massively reduce infection rates in Germany. The institute reported more than 25,000 new Covid cases on Thursday. This means that despite the small bright spots that are not yet trending, the plateau is too high.
RKI President Lothar Wieler emphasized Thursday morning that, in his opinion, the previous pandemic rules are not enough. “These measures that we are taking now, for me it is not a complete lockdown,” Wieler said. “There are still too many exceptions and it is not strictly enforced.” Looking at more contagious mutations of the coronavirus, he added: “There is a possibility that the situation will get worse.”
Merkel thanks Spahn
According to the participants, Merkel praised the performance of pharmaceutical companies in Germany in the evening, according to the dpa. It’s great that a vaccine is already there after ten months, from a German pharmaceutical company. It is now manufactured in Germany and Europe. The Mainz company Biontech and the US partner Pfizer are a good example of transatlantic cooperation. What the pharmaceutical companies are doing in Germany is fantastic. This is also proof that the social market economy works. They work around the clock to ensure that a vaccine is developed and produced.
In this context, the Chancellor especially thanked the Minister of Health, Jens Spahn (CDU), who has a lot of contact with companies and researchers. Spahn, who had been heavily criticized for his vaccine policy by coalition partner SPD, among other things, had said at the presidium meeting that he was in the worst phase of the pandemic. Abroad, too, you can see that corona vaccines would not have prevented a lockdown.
Trade union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus praised the fact that the Bundeswehr is deploying 10,000 more troops to fight the crown pandemic.
