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The patchwork quilt was often criticized for Corona’s measures in Germany. But now there is a huge gap in the infection rate. The positions of the countries are moving further and further apart.
For the ruling mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, the new figures of the Robert Koch Institute should be a satisfaction. For weeks, the SPD politician had to listen to the banter of Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder about the high number of corona infections in Berlin. On Thursday, Berlin’s seven-day incidence of the RKI was 162.83 and that of Bavaria was 172.26. This is just one example of a growing gap in Corona Germany, which Chancellor Angela Merkel is addressing more and more clearly: the average of the numbers is no longer saying anything because the regions separated.
In fact, there is a growing gap between the north and the south, and especially the southeast. The neighboring state of Bavaria, Saxony, has gone from being a low crown state to being the leader in the statistics in a few weeks. The situation is so dramatic that Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) threatened drastic restrictions on Thursday. Exit restrictions already exist in all Saxon districts.
Northern countries are getting impatient
The growing gap also shapes political debates in federal Germany. Because the “mosaic” of measures that is so often criticized in public is the result of this distancing. During deliberations on November 25, the Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig, and her colleague from Schleswig-Holstein, Daniel Günther, argued that they had to explain to their citizens why they should keep restaurants and cultural institutions closed, with infection rates of seven days. -Value of 46.58 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and 43.39 in Schleswig-Holstein.
Therefore, both pushed a formulation that countries can deviate from closures if they show “well below 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days and a downward trend in incidence.” They just don’t want to implement it right now, out of consideration for others.
Meanwhile, the downward trend can be seen across the north. Suddenly, city-states like Hamburg and Bremen, but also Lower Saxony, are moving forward to contain the pandemic, or at least not allow numbers to skyrocket like in the south. Ute Rexroth, director of the RKI situation center, does not have a really conclusive explanation of the reasons. Only the “fresh air” in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the sparser population in the north cannot be the cause. This contradicts the relative successes of the Hamburg metropolis, which now has an incidence of 69.13, Rexroth admits.
Saxony: Is proximity to the Czech Republic the problem?
The turning point in the southeast is surprising. Because for many months the figures in countries like Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt were at a low level. With some pride they pointed out that they did not have the crown problems of the West. But this is now dramatically different.
Marco Wanderwitz, the Federal Government Commissioner for the new federal states, explains this with the small border traffic and travelers from the Czech Republic with their much higher Corona numbers. “In addition, the Czech blockade ensured that tens of thousands of Czechs went on duty to go shopping in Saxony,” the CDU politician told Reuters. “In addition, the proportion of people who deny the crown and refuse to take action is higher than in other federal states. It is surprising that the most affected regions are those in which the AfD share in the votes is highest in the elections”.
The consequences are dramatic: RKI expert Rexroth notes that the population is larger than the national average, so there will be more people at risk, more serious illnesses and deaths.
The courts could lift the measures again
The effects of regional differences were also clear at the December 2 federal-state meeting. Once again, Günther and Schwesig helped extend the closures until January 10. But even in the federal government there have long been doubts as to whether this can be sustained nationwide: With a view to regionally low infection numbers, the courts might point out that the north in a federal state should not suffer too much from a high number of infections in the south, they say.
In the south, by contrast, there is a growing desire to deflect pressure on the federal government. Söder, for example, is one of the loudest people calling for stricter national regulations. This certainly meets with goodwill in the Chancellery, because Merkel is also too lax in the course of the crown of many countries. But the main reason for Söder’s insistence is seen in the federal government that it wants to turn the high Bavarian numbers into a national problem. Also: a hard line at the national level would make it easier for the head of CSU to sell controversial restrictions in Bavaria. The problem: Kiel or Schwerin’s view of Corona is increasingly different.
