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Wednesday, October 07, 2020
Another beer in the evening, drinking the wine in the restaurant after midnight, bigger parties in shared flats, none of that should happen in Berlin at first. Health Senator Kalayci defends the cuts, after all, it was nightlife that last caused problems in the pandemic.
Berlin Health Senator Dilek Kalayci has defended the new toughening in the fight against the corona pandemic. A curfew and stricter indoor and outdoor contact bans will be enforced in the capital starting Saturday. “This is the nightlife in Berlin that has caused us problems in recent days and weeks,” the SPD politician told RBB news radio. This is why they took specific action and said the night party was over.
“But overall, the message is also: the time for socializing is over. The situation in Berlin is dire,” the senator said. Everyone has a responsibility to control the pandemic. In the future, restaurants, bars and most shops in Berlin will have to close between 11 PM and 6 AM. Only five people or people from two households can meet outdoors at night. Inside, a maximum of ten people can gather for private celebrations.
The new rules will initially apply until the end of October. If discipline does not improve, further tightening should be expected, Kalayci said. “Now it’s just a matter of distance. Winter is a very dangerous time.” Kalayci also referred to the regulations on fines. Restaurateurs who do not respect the curfew can face fines of up to 10,000 euros.
“Discipline has decreased”
The Berlin FDP parliamentary group had criticized the Senate for allowing a minority to dance on the nose. If the measures cannot be enforced, further tightening is pointless. Kalayci said of the criticism that the pandemic was initially stopped. “But now we are noticing that discipline has decreased, especially among young people.” Even a minority can be very dangerous if it is very mobile and infects many others.
The Robert Koch Institute currently has seven regions that have exceeded the limit of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days. These include four districts of Berlin: Neukölln, Mitte, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. Berlin as a whole has a seven-day incidence of 42.4, which is still below the values of other large cities such as Offenbach, Frankfurt or Bremen.
