How legally secure is the hotspot rule in the Infection Protection Act? This is currently the subject of heated debate. Baden-Württemberg has checked this – and apparently a preliminary result.
In Baden-Württemberg, regional corona hotspots with stricter requirements are out of the question after a legal review by the Ministry of Social Affairs. The German Press Agency (dpa) learned on Sunday from coalition circles in Stuttgart that the requirements formulated in the new federal infection protection law would not be met in the state.
Unlike in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where this regulation is to take effect after April 2nd, the density of clinics in Baden-Württemberg is much higher. This means that if the hospitals in one urban or rural district are overwhelmed, patients could be transferred to neighboring districts relatively easily.
The state government wants to advise on future corona rules
A government spokesman told the dpa that the tests had not yet been completed. “We will discuss on Monday how to proceed after April 2nd.” The background is the new nationwide legal basis that the traffic light coalition recently put into effect under open protest from the federal states.
They refer to the high number of new infections. Initially, all countries can still use a transitional period until April 2nd, during which the previous rules will remain in place. After that, almost all protective measures such as mask requirements and access restrictions will probably no longer apply.
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The federal government has canceled most of the corona measures and is giving the federal states a hotspot rule. For Prime Minister Kretschmann, this is “poorly made in terms of craftsmanship”.
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Kretschmann wants to use regional hotspots “if necessary”.
According to federal law, however, there may be further restrictions for regional hotspots if the state parliament determines a critical situation for them. Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) had repeatedly expressed sharp criticism of the federal regulation and complained that the instruments in the fight against the corona virus were being taken away from the federal states.
Regarding the allegedly remaining options, he said: “These hotspots are on paper, but they cannot be applied with legal certainty.” Nevertheless, on Tuesday he did not rule out that there could be regional requirements. “If necessary, we will do that.” For the beginning of April, however, this is not planned for the time being.
Health ministers from several countries want a longer transition period
The green-black state government also wants to wait for the special meeting of the federal and state health ministers before making a decision on Monday. State Minister of Health Manfred Lucha (Greens), together with counterparts from four other countries, had requested an extension of the stricter corona measures that were still possible until April 2 by four weeks. In addition to Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Hesse also called on the federal government to promptly clarify the outstanding issues regarding the implementation of the hotspot regulation. A nationwide uniform procedure must be ensured.
Opposition in BW does not consider the result of the test to be reliable
The opposition does not consider the result of the examination by the Ministry of Social Affairs to be sustainable. SPD party and faction leader Andreas Stoch told the dpa that the ministry was tackling the problem from the wrong side. The clinics are already at the limit because normal operation is not possible due to the many infections among the staff. “Thus, the health system is threatened with overload,” says Stoch. That is the prerequisite in federal law in order to act. From the perspective of the SPD, the state government could even declare the whole country a hotspot.
FDP parliamentary group leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke also told the dpa that the assessment by the Ministry of Social Affairs was not in line with the law. “Nowhere in the law do I read that the regional hotspots depend on the density of clinics in a country.” The FDP thinks it is right that from April 2nd almost all Corona requirements will be abolished and that more personal responsibility will be encouraged. Rülke had already announced that he would sue if the state government came up with the idea of declaring the whole country a hotspot.
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Baden-Württemberg will not become a state-wide corona hotspot, the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg has decided. A corresponding request by the SPD was rejected on Wednesday.
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The clinics have not yet reached their load limit
The number of new infections with the corona virus remains at a high level in Baden-Württemberg. Most recently, the seven-day incidence fell to just under 1,870. However, due to the high number of unreported cases, the actual incidence is likely to be significantly higher. However, the occupancy of the hospitals by Covid 19 patients is still far from the limit. According to official information, there are currently around 2,030 patients in the normal wards; the capacity is around 5,500. According to the latest figures, 263 people were treated in the intensive care units. The capacity here is more than 600 patients.
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