Status: 08.06.2022 11:36 a.m
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Wait and see what the corona measures have brought from a scientific point of view – only then decide on new rules. That is the timetable for Justice Minister Buschmann and Finance Minister Lindner. Others want new rules sooner.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann only wants to decide on the rules for autumn after the planned scientific assessment of the corona protection measures. The fact that the current version of the Infection Protection Act expires on September 23 is not a random date, said the FDP politician ARD morning magazine. The date was chosen so that “after the summer break we have two weeks of sessions in the German Bundestag to go through a very orderly, regular legislative process.”
Marco Buschmann, FDP, Federal Minister of Justice, on the discussion of corona prevention measures
Morning magazine, June 8th, 2022
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At the end of June, a panel of experts is to present an evaluation of the measures taken so far. It is expected that the experts working with the Chairman of the Board of Management of the Berlin University Hospital Charité, Heyo Kroemer, will provide information on further political steps.
Only then does the Federal Minister of Justice want to go into consultations. For him, the schedule looks like this: “Between June 30 and the end of the summer break, we will discuss with the federal states what needs to be done,” said Buschmann. The federal government also discussed this with the Prime Ministers’ Conference. “I don’t understand why some now think that this timetable is no longer worth anything.”
Lindner also wants to wait and see
Buschmann is not alone with this attitude: In the evening, FDP leader Christian Lindner had already made it clear that he wanted to wait for the scientific evaluation first. He argued: “I’m not taking part in the discussion about individual measures now, because then I would be assuming knowledge that you can’t even have yet”.
It is clear to him: “There should no longer be any general restrictions on freedom.” Several other FDP politicians had previously insisted on waiting for the evaluation of measures planned by the end of June.
Discussion about measures in autumn
The statements by Minister of Justice Buschmann and Minister of Finance Lindner are not unexpected: In view of an expected new increase in corona cases in the colder season, there is currently discussion about which protective measures should be possible in autumn. Green leader Omid Nouripour recently called for a rapid change to the Infection Protection Act.
Counties call for option for mask requirement
And some counties have already called for a speedy adjustment of the Infection Protection Act with a view to autumn. Because with the currently applicable, amended Infection Protection Act, general mask requirements for events or when shopping, as well as 2G and 3G access regulations, have been eliminated since the beginning of April. For the time being, “basic protection” applies – for example with mask requirements in buses, trains, clinics, practices and nursing homes.
The President of the German District Association, Reinhard Sager, told the newspapers of the Funke media group that the “instruments to be provided” included mask requirements indoors and on buses and trains and contact restrictions “if these should become necessary”. Sager demanded that the legislature must compile the key instruments before the politicians’ summer break in order to “adjust the regulations in good time”.
It would be too late to start working on the content in September so that you might not have to chase after the development again.
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“Politicians should have learned that in the last two years,” warned Sager.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) also advocated creating the possibility of wearing masks indoors again. Lauterbach recently shared a survey on Twitter, according to which “many are in favor of stricter measures in autumn” if they make sense. Lauterbach wrote: “The citizens are more reasonable than parts of politics”.
Social association for free citizen tests until winter
The social association VdK also spoke out in favor of timely planning. The association said it was appealing to the traffic light coalition to take precautions against a possible flare-up of the corona pandemic in autumn – especially with regard to free citizen tests. “The federal government urgently needs to extend the successful test strategy with the free citizen tests until the winter,” said VdK President Verena Bentele. There is a need to hurry here, as the regulation expires at the end of June.
Likewise, nursing homes and facilities for people with disabilities should only be allowed to be entered with a negative test. This is the only way to ensure the safety of the residents, even in the current infection situation, according to Bentele. The protection of all risk groups must be the priority. The federal states also needed the opportunity to extend tried-and-tested measures such as the obligation to wear masks in local public transport beyond September and to be able to reintroduce them in shops. In addition, a fourth vaccination should become standard for professional nursing staff and for caring relatives, the social association VdK Germany demanded.
incidence at 238.1
Meanwhile, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the nationwide seven-day incidence at 238.1. The day before, the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week was 199.9. However, the incidence does not provide a complete picture of the infection situation.
Experts have been assuming for some time that there will be a large number of cases not recorded by the RKI – mainly because by far not all infected people have a PCR test done. Only positive PCR tests count in the statistics. In addition, late registrations or transmission problems can lead to a distortion of individual daily values.
The health authorities in Germany recently reported 84,655 new corona infections (previous week: 54,957) and 145 deaths (previous week: 91) to the RKI within one day. Here, too, comparisons of the data are only possible to a limited extent due to the test behavior, late registrations or transmission problems. In general, the number of registered new infections and deaths varies significantly from weekday to weekday, since more and more federal states do not transmit to the RKI, especially at weekends, and report their cases later in the week.
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