“Do not need a course correction”
Scholz does not want to ease up on Corona policy
01/23/2022 3:41 p.m
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The federal and state governments will meet on Monday to discuss how to proceed in the pandemic. The main focus will be on possible adaptations to the highly contagious omicron variant. Should Germany – like other countries – dare to relax? The chancellor is against it.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz currently sees no reason to change course in the corona measures in Germany. “In any case, it is certainly not appropriate to relax the rules across the board in the middle of the omicron wave,” he said in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” with a view to the upcoming corona consultations with the federal states this Monday. “We don’t need a course correction.”
Scholz said the country is on the right track. The strict rules introduced in November meant that the omicron wave reached Germany later than its European neighbors. For example, he referred to the 2G plus rule for restaurants agreed at the last federal-state summit two weeks ago. The Chancellor warned against premature hopes for a quick end to the pandemic, especially from Omikron. “We must not be naïve. It is an illusion to think that in three months the pandemic will just miraculously be over forever,” he said.
The SPD politician defended his commitment to general vaccination, which should be voted on in the Bundestag without the usual parliamentary group discipline: “Meanwhile, I am convinced that without vaccination, we will not be able to bring the quota to the level that is necessary is so that we can put the pandemic behind us.”
Hopefully the situation will ease up in spring and summer, said Scholz. But next fall will definitely come. “If we have achieved a very high vaccination rate through general vaccination, we will be able to outsmart the next volte of the virus.”
On Monday, the leaders of the federal and state governments want to coordinate again on how to proceed in the pandemic. What is happening is currently being characterized by a rapid spread of infections with the easily transmissible omicron variant, which, however, has not been reflected in an increasing burden on the intensive care units of hospitals, at least so far.
As a result, there were already voices before the top talks that brought possible relaxation into play. Bavaria’s head of government Markus Söder, for example, told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” at the weekend that the load on the clinics was the decisive benchmark. The measures introduced against the delta wave could not be transferred “1:1” to another mutation. “More participation” should be possible again in culture, sports and youth work.
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