Status: December 21, 2021 8:33 p.m.
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Once again, Germany will face stricter corona measures – mainly due to concerns about the Omikron variant. Chancellor Scholz called for people to stick together and persevere – even if the ongoing stresses made them weary.
Shortly before Christmas, the federal and state governments agreed on stricter requirements in view of the threatened spread of the Omikron variant of the corona virus. However, they should only come into force after the holidays.
As a result of the renewed deliberations, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz would have liked to have had “better news” in his luggage, as he himself put it:
This pandemic is troubling us all. We are all crumbling and tired of the pandemic. But that doesn’t help. We have to stand together again and, in many cases, keep our distance.
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Although the current fourth corona wave is slowly getting under control thanks to the measures that have already been adopted, the number of infections has declined. But the SPD politician spoke of a “strange interim”, because Omikron “threatens wave five”.
Contact restrictions also for vaccinated persons
Keeping your distance – the keyword for one of the agreed tightening: “At the latest” from December 28th, according to Scholz, stricter contact restrictions will apply – also for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered. Private gatherings of vaccinated and convalescent people should then only be allowed with a maximum of ten people – with the exception of children under 14 years of age.
Scholz emphasized that a conscious decision was made not to start the measures until after Christmas. Because in the past the people in the country would have behaved responsibly on these holidays. Christmas and Easter would not have turned out to be pandemic drivers.
Ghost games and closed clubs
Also from December 28th, supraregional large-scale events will only be allowed to take place without spectators. Clubs and discos must be closed nationwide, dance events are prohibited. This was already the case in many federal states so far, but was handled differently by some states. Assembly bans should apply on New Year’s Eve and New Year. The sale of fireworks is prohibited.
The ban on major events also affects sport. For professional football clubs, it means a return to so-called ghost games with games in front of empty spectators.
Tina Hassel, ARD Berlin, on the results of the federal-state conference
daily news 8:00 p.m., 21.12.2021
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MPK follows expert advice
With these resolutions, the Prime Minister’s Conference (MPK) is largely following the demands of the German government’s Corona Expert Council. The body called for tightened measures on Sunday. The Robert Koch Institute also spoke out in favor of stricter measures and even went beyond the requirements proposed by the Expert Council in its demands – a proposal that the federal and state governments rejected with their resolutions.
The Prime Minister’s Conference does not always have to comply with all recommendations, North Rhine-Westphalia’s head of state Hendrik Wüst, currently chairman of the MPK, defended the tightening that has now been announced. And Scholz also emphasized: “Compared to many other European countries around us, Germany has far-reaching contact restrictions.”
Disagreement between the Union and the SPD, however, was reflected in the question of whether it was the right step to let the epidemic emergency of national scope due to the pandemic expire on November 25th. “A clear mistake,” emphasized CDU Prime Minister Wüst: “When, if not now, will we have an epidemic of national importance?”
Berlin’s newly elected Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey contradicted: This decision was made under different conditions at the time. And since then, many new measures against the pandemic have been decided.
The focus is on the vaccination campaign
But because of Omikron, Germany is facing a “sharp increase” in corona infections, emphasized Scholz: “” It won’t be over as quickly as hoped. “Omikron is more aggressive and threatens to undermine vaccination protection.
And that is why the main goal remains: “Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate.” The vaccination campaign should continue over the holidays, because the virus is not taking a “Christmas break” either. There is much to suggest that the goal of 30 million booster vaccinations will be achieved by the end of the year.
Another 30 million should be added by the end of January. Giffey also emphasized that Germany could not afford a break from vaccinating. That is why there is also a need for a reliable supply of the necessary vaccine doses. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach had promised the federal states at the MPK that at least ten million vaccine doses should be available every week.
Wüst calls for speed with compulsory vaccination
In this context, Wüst again urged the implementation of a general vaccination requirement. This subject demands “speed and clarity”. Scholz, too, backed these plans again, but remained vague about the time frame: “I consider mandatory vaccination, which will apply and can be implemented at some point, to be necessary.”
The federal and state governments want to discuss further action in the fight against the pandemic in the coming year. The next meeting was scheduled for January 7th.
Disagreement about the determination of the epidemic emergency after the federal-state meeting
Moritz Rödle, ARD Berlin, daily news 8 p.m., December 21, 2021
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