pandemic
Lauterbach: Must expect a corona summer wave
– Karl Lauterbach (SPD), Federal Minister of Health, answers questions about the infection process at a press conference. Photo: Wolfgang Kumm/dpa © dpa-infocom GmbH
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After the hard Corona winter, many hopes are pinned on summer. Will the number of cases then fall as sharply as in the last two years? The health minister has doubts.
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Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach warned of the increasing number of corona infections in the summer. He considers it necessary to maintain protection options beyond March 20th.
“We have to expect a summer wave,” said the SPD politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group (Saturday). Both the delta and the omicron variant of the virus are so infectious that even when the weather is good, many contacts and the decreasing vaccination protection could lead to an increase in the number of infections if there were no longer any restrictions. The Infection Protection Act must be geared to this.
Several instruments required
The federal states should have the opportunity to react at an early stage. These included the obligation to wear masks and contact restrictions. “It should be possible to set upper limits for private meetings and public events as well as access rules for restaurants, for example, i.e. 2G or 2G plus regulations,” said Lauterbach. “There must continue to be the possibility of enforcing test rules in public spaces and in companies.” All these instruments should only be used when they are actually necessary.
From March 20th, most of the Corona requirements will no longer apply. The nationwide legal basis for such measures expires on March 19. So-called basic protective measures such as the obligation to wear a mask indoors should remain in place. The Bundestag still has to discuss the exact structure. Further corona measures were only removed on Friday, there are relaxations for restaurants, hotels, clubs and discos, for example.
Act responsibly
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, called on citizens to continue wearing FFP2 masks in retail, on buses and trains. Reinhardt told the Rheinische Post: “In dealing with the pandemic in the future, it is crucial that people learn to deal with the risk of infection sensibly by acting independently in everyday life.” This included Reinhardt being fully vaccinated or voluntary quick tests before private parties.
The general manager of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, Gerd Landsberg, called for the maintenance of free citizen tests in the “Rheinische Post”. The vaccination centers should also “at least be kept in stand-by mode”.
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