“Report from Berlin”: Obligation to carry out tests for employees and returnees from Mallorca?

Rather tighten than loosen: the mayor of Berlin, Müller, and the prime minister of Bavaria, Söder, agreed on the “Berlin Report”. Müller suggested that mandatory tests for employees should also be considered.

One day before the federal-state consultations, the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder, and the mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, spoke out against the relaxation in the “Berlin Report”. “I don’t see that in the situation we are in,” Müller said. The numbers went up. “In this sense, I think we should maintain the status quo, and possibly even talk about new restrictions, we have to do so in light of this development.”

Söder came out in favor of a constant application of the emergency brake. “We are in a dangerous situation,” he said. Care must be taken that the third party does not become permanent. “Reopening now would mean that we will have to fight the pandemic in June and July, with this third wave, and nobody can want that,” Söder said. “And what is very important to me is that we hit the emergency brake hard.” In some federal states, this is still handled relatively flexibly. “I think tomorrow we should come to a clear understanding.”

Müller: See the full range of topics.

With a view to a possible tightening, Müller advocated controlling all areas. “When we get back to talking about what we could close, it’s important for me to take another look at the full range of issues,” he said. “We are very fast again on the retail issue, very fast on the school issue.” He also wanted to address head office during consultations. “We did not go beyond a voluntary commitment.”

It also brought into play a test requirement for employees. “What about mandatory tests for employees? We organize this in the countries for teachers, it works twice a week, why shouldn’t something like this also work in the economy?” Especially in private and at work, where masks are not worn and are not tested twice a week, there is an extremely increasing number of infections.

With a view to schools, Söder suggested more tests also among students; here, however, the willingness to participate must be even better. If parents or municipalities wanted to close schools, they would support it in case of doubt. However, that would be a difficult process. “School is incredibly important, but school is part of the pandemic and that is why it cannot be overlooked.”

Testing and quarantine requirements for Mallorca travelers?

In the context of the debate on travelers from Mallorca, both leaders of the country also proposed tests and quarantine for returnees. “I don’t think it is not possible to travel without protection,” Müller said, also referring to Easter. It is incomprehensible for people that they should not travel in Germany, but that it is possible to Mallorca.

Söder said there was an urgent need for “mandatory testing and quarantine for Mallorca”. In general, he cautioned to be careful with vacation-related decisions. Assume that the incidence value will increase significantly during Easter. “And then we have to be careful not to announce something that sounds hopeful and looks good, but can still get caught again by slipping numbers.”