by Thorsten Koch
Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a faster implementation of the Corona emergency brake, which is to be valid throughout Germany, and warned against overstressing the German health system. In the Bundestag she said: “The situation is serious, very serious.” The third wave of the Corona pandemic must be kept in check by stopping the rapid spread of infections. All forces of the federal, state and local governments must be better bundled. Doctors and nurses must not be left out in the rain, Merkel emphasized. After 13 months of the Corona pandemic, it is clear that in the fight against the virus, every day counts.
Seehofer: curfew constitutional
Meanwhile, Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (CSU) has commented on the exit restrictions as part of the Infection Protection Act, which is currently being prepared. The submission regarding the exit restrictions from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. in regions with numerous Corona cases is undoubtedly constitutional, Seehofer said. The lawyers in the Federal Ministry of the Interior gave a clear confirmation this. In the Bundestag, during a hearing, some legal scholars had expressed their opinion positively, and others critical, regarding the exit restrictions.
Criticism of the opposition
FDP chairman Christian Lindner had criticized, for example, that those vaccinated were not exempted from the restriction. Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch said the government had come up too late with its solution and criticized the fact that schools were hit hard, but not the economy. Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt described the planned regulation as inadequate. You have to act at an incidence value of 50 or 35. Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) called for consistent action. To wait was an absurd strategy, he said according to press reports.
The changes to the Federal Infection Protection Act are to come to the Federal Council on Thursday. Federal Council President Reiner Haselhoff (CDU) announced that a special session had been scheduled to possibly pass the law in its new form as early as Thursday. Overall, the opposition rejected the new regulation, which also means a tightening of the contact rules and closinf of trade shops – with the exception of shops covering daily needs.
Hospitals creating space for Corona patients
Emergency care in many hospitals is now being scaled back. This should create space for more Corona patients, the chairman of the German Hospital Association (DKG) announced. “Today’s Covid patients are the newly infected from two to three weeks ago,” said Gerald Gaß, according to a newspaper report. He criticized delays in implementation. The peak of the second Corona wave would soon be reached, he added.
