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Less freedom of movement, stricter contact restrictions: the federal and state governments have decided to extend the blockade until the end of January. And it will be completed with other measures.
Chancellor Angela Merkel informs the population about the new crown measures.
Photo: Michael Kappeler (Keystone)
Since the number of corona infections is not declining significantly, people in Germany should be prepared for further restrictions for the next three weeks. Chancellor Angela Merkel and federal state heads of government agreed on Tuesday in an online conference to extend the blocking rules originally agreed on January 10 until the end of the month, as well as even stricter contact restrictions in the private sector.
In addition, for districts in which more than 200 people per 100,000 inhabitants were infected for the first time in seven days, the federal states should limit the radius of movement of citizens to 15 kilometers around their place of residence. If you live in such a corona hotspot and want to get further away from your home, you will need to provide a valid reason, such as travel to work. According to the Robert Koch Institute, 68 districts currently have a correspondingly high incidence value.
At a preliminary meeting, according to information from the German Press Agency, an expert from the Max Planck Institute said that to reduce the number of infections, “possibly” a “stay at home” arrangement or a limited maximum range of five kilometers of movement around the Needs residence. It also makes sense to reduce the number of passengers on local public transport to a quarter of the seats.
Other countries have already had experience with it.
In Germany, there is so far a restricted range of movement only in Saxony, where the number of new infections has increased dramatically in the last three months. Here, citizens are only allowed a maximum of 15 kilometers from their place of residence, for example to play sports or go shopping. For Thuringia, which is also heavily affected by Covid-19, Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow has now proposed a corresponding regulation.
Other European countries have already gained experience with such measures. However, these were and are often combined with other restrictions, such as a nighttime curfew, and sometimes much stricter. For example, people in France were sometimes only allowed out for a good reason. For hiking or sports, there was a limit of one hour per day within a maximum radius of one kilometer from your own home. In Catalonia, in northeastern Spain, it was ordered last week that people only be allowed to leave their own community for ten days with good reason, for example to go to work.
Many stores in Germany, but also schools and kindergartens, have been closed since December 16. There are also strict restrictions on, for example, private meetings. Restaurants, cultural and leisure facilities had to close several weeks before. The objective of the measures is to avoid contact between people and thus avoid infection by the coronavirus.
Strict contact restrictions
To do this, the company canteens should be closed if possible. Private meetings should now only be possible with a person who does not belong to your own home. This means, for example, that two couples cannot meet for dinner and two children cannot visit another child at home. In the December decision, which was implemented by the federal states in their own regulations, in some slightly different cases, it was stated: “Private meetings with friends, family and acquaintances are still for you and another household, but in any case up to a maximum of 5 Restrict people. Children up to 14 years of age are exempt from this. “
In order to protect nursing home and nursing home residents from Covid-19 and loneliness at the same time, the federal and state governments want volunteers to be temporarily available at these facilities to screen staff and visitors for of the corona virus. If the parents cannot go to work because the school and the nursery are closed, an additional child sickness benefit must be paid for ten days. Regulations will be tightened for people entering from risk areas. In principle, a corona test should be performed directly at the entrance.
A large majority of Germans are in favor of an extension of the lockdown to contain the corona pandemic. In a poll conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they should continue the restrictions at least in their previous severity beyond January 10. 41 percent are in favor of withholding unchanged, another 24 percent are even in favor of adjustment. In contrast, only 17 percent are in favor of easing the blockade and only one in ten (11 percent) is in favor of a complete lifting of all restrictions.
Slow start of vaccination raises criticism
The question of who is responsible for the slow start of Covid-19 vaccines in Germany and how it can be accelerated there is still a matter of controversy. Since the start of the nationwide vaccination campaign after Christmas, nearly 317,000 vaccinations have been reported according to the RKI. Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had rejected the criticism with reference to the manufacturers’ limited production capacities.
“It is critical that Germany has enough vaccines available and that vaccines are coordinated, executed quickly and consistently,” said Greens President Robert Habeck. “Production capacities and available quantity of vaccine must be increased as quickly as possible, processing must be ongoing.” AfD President Jörg Meuthen said: “Regardless of how you feel about corona vaccination, all citizens should have the opportunity to get vaccinated.” The federal government was unable to obtain a sufficient amount of vaccine at an early stage.
According to Merkel, many more people could get a Corona vaccine in the second trimester. The chancellor resolutely rejected the criticisms of the SPD coalition partner, among others, of the health ministers because of their vaccination course. “Jens Spahn is doing a great job now throughout the days,” Merkel said Tuesday. The question does not arise whether he still enjoys their trust. She is glad that he is so active.
The Chancellor and the heads of government of the federal states want to discuss how things should continue from February 1 to January 25. German health authorities reported 11,897 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in one day. In addition, 944 new deaths were recorded in 24 hours.
