Christmas in Germany, the government extends the light blockade until January 10. Free fight between Merkel and the Länder

Il lock light on Germany It will be extended until January 10. Angela Merkel and Laender’s presiding ministers decided this in a regular meeting by video conference after a tug of war with the federal states. The tensions between German government ei countries In view of Christmas went on for days. Just a week ago a grueling agreement was reached to expand the semi-lock until the December 20th and relax the ban on contact during the holidays by allowing meetings until 10 persons. However, the relaxation of the measures during the holidays immediately opened another front: at least 8 Länder had made it known that they wanted hotels open from December 23 to January 1 for those who travel family visits. An announcement that was highly criticized by the Chancellor: “I missed the fantasy by imagine that the most affected regions were planning to reopen their hotels, ”he said during a meeting with the Cdu.

In the resolution approved last week restaurants and hotels they were not mentioned among the pants planned for Christmas. The federal government wanted hard line: therefore, the closings scheduled until December 20 have been extended until the end of the holidays. It was written in the agreement: “The federal states assume that extensive restrictions will be needed even beyond the end of the year due to the high incidence of infections. They will perform another review and evaluation before Christmas“.

What the situation was already tense the question of hotels proved it. While yesterday Merkel repeated that caution is needed to avoid a third wave – “This winter we will have to go back to very very careful”- some federal states announced the opening of hotels. These include, for example Mecklenburg-Pomerania me Schleswig-Holstein, two areas where the virus circulates relatively little: the incidence is lower to 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in a week. But what angered the chancellor are the announcements from Berlin, one of the areas hardest hit by the pandemic. It is the capital that Merkel was referring to when she says that he lacked imagination suspect that the Länder particularly affected by the virus wanted to open hotels.

The hotel openings proposed by the federal governments had nothing to do with the tourismbut I only travel for myself family reunification during the holidays, therefore from December 23 to January 1. To date, German hotels are already open, as in Italy, but only for Business trip. “The rule is that all trips that are not at all should be avoided necessary. This includes tourist trips. Visiting family members is not a tourist trip, ”he said. Melanie Reinsch, Spokesperson for the Berlin Senate Chancellery, Daily mirror. For Merkel but it is too much already. The chancellor also justified her criticism by explaining that it will not be possible to verify if guests who stayed at the hotel visited relatives.

Finally the decision was made. The same dialectical that in Italy sees the government (on the caution line) and the Regions (which instead pressure to reopen) is also proposed in Germany. Obviously in minor key, since (except Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia) all Länder are administered by presidents of Cdu OR Spd, the two forces at government from the country. Merkel, however, looks at the neighbor France, where a tighter lockdown made it possible to reduce the contagion curve faster. Germany, during the first wave and in September with the school, I risked a Christmas without one orderly closure, but with different rules for restaurants and clubs from Land to Land. But the closure will last more than a month.