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The Chancellor and Prime Ministers agree to an extended mask requirement, curfew hours and a limited number of guests. There is no compromise when it comes to the controversial accommodation ban. For the Chancellor, the agreements do not go far enough to avoid a “disaster”.
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday night at the press conference at the Chancellery.
Tired, tense and above all unsatisfied: this is what Angela Merkel looked like when she appeared in front of the press on Wednesday night in Berlin. Previously, the Federal Chancellor and the Prime Ministers of the federal states had negotiated for more than eight hours in the Berlin Chancellery on the hardening of the German pandemic regime. The result was not far enough for Merkel. The exponential growth in the number of infections – the Robert Koch Institute reported 6,638 new corona cases on Thursday night, the previous high in Germany – must be halted, Merkel said. “We have to stop this increase, otherwise it will not end well.”
For the first time since the beginning of the summer, the Chancellor and the country’s leaders met in person to talk. The scene was reminiscent of similar crisis meetings in the spring and the federal government’s difficulties in establishing consensus among state leaders and uniform national regulations. After several hours, Merkel stormed out of Wednesday’s meeting. “The announcements from us are not harsh enough to prevent us from disaster,” the CDU politician is said to have said according to consistent information from participants, according to the German press agency. And: “What we are doing here is not enough.”
Confusion about the accommodation ban
The Chancellor’s main focus was the controversial accommodation ban, which is aimed at severely restricting travel within Germany, and thus the spread of the virus. Armin Laschet (CDU) of North Rhine-Westphalia or Malu Dreyer (SPD) of Rhineland-Palatinate spoke out vehemently in favor of lifting the regulation, Manuela Schwesig (SPD) of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania equally vehemently in favor of keeping it. There was no consensus, the federal patchwork quilt will remain in place for now. The group wants to meet again on November 8. Germans travel less, not because it’s banned everywhere, but because hardly anyone can see through the chaos of regulations.
Braunschweig professor and head of the department of systems immunology at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Michael Meyer-Hermann, as invited expert, called for much stricter measures to be taken at the meeting. He presented mathematical models of the spread of the virus and recommended a total travel ban for people from risk areas. It wasn’t five minutes to twelve, but twelve, said the biomathematician, whose assessments leans toward the chancellor. A loss of control over the spread of the infection threatens. The travel ban was met with great skepticism by the Prime Minister.
There were still resolutions and rules at the national level on Wednesday night. Many of them have recently reached a threshold of 35 infections per 100,000 people:
- Mask requirement: In cities and regions with rapidly increasing crown numbers, the mask requirement will be expanded. Out of 35 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days, it should also apply where people are closer or longer.
- Private celebrations: In regions with a value of more than 35 new infections, there should be a limit of 25 participants in the public space and 15 participants in the private space. Starting with 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days, private celebrations should be limited to a maximum of ten participants in public spaces and a maximum of ten participants from a maximum of two homes in private spaces.
- Contact restrictions: If new infections exceed 50, only a maximum of ten people will be allowed to gather in public spaces. If the new measures do not stop the increase, it will be reduced to five people or the members of two households.
- Curfew: Also with 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days, a curfew will be imposed at 11 pm for the restaurant sector. Bars and clubs will be closed.
- Events: If the value of 50 is exceeded, the number of participants in the events is limited to 100 people. Exceptions require a hygiene concept agreed with the responsible health department.
In the document adopted by the federal and state governments on Wednesday, a new blockade is not ruled out: “If the increase in the number of infections does not stop in ten days under the aforementioned measures, it is inevitable that more specific measures will be taken to further reduce public contacts. ” That is the basis on which the negotiations will take place on November 8.
To prevent this from happening, Merkel appealed to the population after the meeting: “In this crucial and critical phase of the fall, it is very, very important that everyone continues to participate.” Because the consequences of a new blockade would be unacceptable: “In economic terms, we cannot afford a second wave like the one we had in spring either.”
Foreign Minister Helge Braun (CDU) said Thursday morning at the ARD that the regulations would likely not be sufficient to contain the pandemic. People must do more on their own to prevent the virus from spreading.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder says: “We are actually much closer to the second blockade than we want to admit.”
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) saw progress through the resolutions. But if that’s enough it’s open in my opinion. Actually, we are much closer to the second blockade than we would like to admit. “The second corona wave is already here. The situation now is almost more dangerous than that of spring, because winter is already imminent, warned Söder, who al at the same time he called for the restrictions to return “in front of the wave.”
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn announced in Berlin on Wednesday that the new Corona test regulation would go into effect on Thursday. Corona tests will focus more on risk groups and the health care system in the future, and less on those returning to travel. He also asked the population to give up unnecessary travel. It is more important than private enjoyment to keep schools open and the economy running, the CDU politician said Thursday morning on Deutschlandfunk.
Green Party leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt harshly criticized the resolutions. He told the newspapers of the Funke media group that the joint systematic and systematically forward-looking action had failed: “With the continued existence of housing bans, a patchwork quilt remains in a central area. The fact that this decision was postponed until after the holidays must seem like a joke in bad taste to many of those affected.
You can contact the Berlin political correspondent Christoph Prantner Twitter Consequences.
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