[ad_1]
Chancellor Angela Merkel has bypassed Germany’s powerful state leaders, urging citizens to reduce social contacts to curb the spread of Covid-19.
With her online video message, an appeal to citizens’ sense of responsibility, Merkel pointed to a growing risk in Germany’s response to the coronavirus: decentralized decision-making and political wars.
“The pandemic is spreading rapidly again, faster than it started more than half a year ago,” he said. “Dispense with every trip. . . [or] party that is not really necessary and, if possible, stay at home and in your neighborhood. “
Political Berlin recorded the message as a vote of no confidence in Germany’s 16 regional leaders and governments, which have led the competition on most issues related to health and Covid.
This hyperlocal and decentralized federal system was seen as a decisive factor in Germany moving forward in tracking and tracing infections in the spring. But with many regions at or approaching the highest “red” level of Germany’s traffic light warning system, no coordinated approach to tackling a second wave is in sight.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch / Pool / AFP via Getty
A seven-hour meeting between the chancellor and state leaders last week broke down without significant agreement on new restrictions or other coordinated measures.
According to one participant, a frustrated Dr. Merkel said at the meeting: “What we are doing here is simply not enough. . . We will all be back here in two weeks. “
Distressed expression
With daily infection rates now at nearly 8,000 a day, three times the rate at the beginning of the month, Dr. Merkel, with a pained expression, pleaded with people to listen to her message, using her political credibility as capital.
Government officials said that while the chancellor has no direct competence to intervene in state affairs, she is aware of her oath of office to “protect the German people from harm.”
As a second winter wave looms, German politicians, business owners and the courts are engaged in a tug of war over rules and restrictions. In recent days, a Berlin court rejected a challenge by bar owners against the curfew at 11pm. Hoteliers in several federal states have brought emergency cases in federal constitutional court against a ban on receiving guests from hot spots. On Monday, the south-western state of Hesse lifted the ban on hotel accommodation.
Meanwhile, a Munich court ordered an insurance company to pay 1.1 million euros in compensation to the owner of a local brewery for lost revenue.
The growing cacophony of regional regulations and declining political unity are contributing to public fatigue with Covid-19 restrictions, German experts fear.
Professor Christian Drosten, a leading virologist at the Charité clinic in Berlin, says the confusion means that “the population does not understand the meaning of these measures, which means that the solidarity we urgently need is facing increasing danger.”
On Monday, Bavaria announced the first full closure in Germany, of the picturesque Berchtesgaden region, neighboring Austria, after recording an incidence rate of 252 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days.
Across the border, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced “unpopular but necessary” measures that limit all indoor gatherings, from dinner parties to yoga classes, to just six people. Exceptions can be made for funerals, Kurz said, while the rules don’t apply to sports clubs or gatherings in private homes.
“The more we stick together, and the more each individual plays, the better we will overcome this situation,” he said.
[ad_2]