Berlin Denmark opens, France relaxes – but Germany continues to struggle for concrete corona relaxation. Federal states such as Schleswig-Holstein are pushing ahead. From February 9th, only the mask requirement will apply in shops there, customers will then no longer have to prove that they have recovered or have been vaccinated.
In addition, there will be no curfew in the catering trade, as Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) announced in Kiel on Wednesday. The country wants to “move a bit towards normality”. From the point of view of several politicians from the federal and state governments, it is still too early for nationwide opening steps.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) only announced that many corona restrictions would be lifted in March. He hopes that “many protective measures can then be withdrawn,” he told the “Rheinische Post”.
The traffic light government had limited the corona measures in the Infection Protection Act with the one-time possibility of extending them until March 19th. Without a corresponding resolution, all measures would then expire. Germany has one of the strictest catalogs of measures in the world, business associations are pushing for concrete opening steps.
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The prerequisite is that, as forecast by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), “the number of cases will fall again from mid-February,” said Buschmann. New virus variants that completely change the situation again should not appear in the short term either. It is questionable, however, whether this forecast can still be kept at all. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) pointed out last week that the peak of the wave caused by the omicron subtype BA.2 might not come until the end of February or beginning of March.
Slow vaccination progress as a problem
He had previously promised easing from mid-February, but had to correct this assessment due to the new development. BA.2 is considered to be even more contagious than the previously known type BA.1.
The subtype has “a few more horsepower,” said virologist Christian Drosten in his NDR podcast. He therefore recommends an even later date for easing. In addition, there is the tough vaccination progress compared to Denmark. In the country, 81.1 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, in Germany it is 74 percent.
He warned: “That’s why there is no all-clear for Germany.” He sees a time threshold and a “planning horizon” for the relaxation of the corona situation in the Easter holidays. The then warmer temperatures should also have a reducing effect on the incidences. Easter is in mid-April this year.
Concrete opening steps should be the subject of the conference of the federal states and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) by February 16 at the latest. In the round on January 24, the federal and state governments had already agreed that opening perspectives should be developed for the moment when an overload of the health system can be ruled out.
Despite the record number of infections, this has not yet become apparent. According to the RKI, the health authorities reported 208,498 cases on Wednesday morning. The seven-day incidence also rose to a record 1227.5.
However, the seven-day hospitalization incidence, which is the main indicator of the pandemic and is intended to show that the healthcare system is overburdened, is 4.77. The previous high was around Christmas time at around 15.5.
Don’t worry about hospital overload
In addition, the number of Covid patients treated in intensive care units has been falling for more than two months and is 2224. About a year ago it was about three times as high. The failure of treatment capacities due to the high number of infections among employees of the critical infrastructure, as warned by the Federal Government’s Expert Council, has not yet become apparent.
For Bremen’s Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD), in view of this “stable situation in the hospitals”, now is the “right time to discuss easing – and not to implement it,” he said on ZDF. In the federal-state round, a decision must be made on how to proceed. “This decision must be prepared.”
Denmark’s action is “too bold a step” for Bovenschulte. One needs opening perspectives, but “with appropriate speed”. There is also the risk of a setback. For example, Bremen’s mayor considers a nationwide mandatory mask requirement instead of the 2G regulation to be conceivable for the retail trade. 2G states that only vaccinated or recovered people are allowed to enter corresponding indoor areas.
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt called for decisions on opening prospects in the “Welt” in February. The hospital occupancy must be the guiding principle for politics.
The CSU politician said: “It is a plea for more personal responsibility. Measures such as the obligation to wear masks are still needed. But we have to present a perspective of gradually reducing the restrictions of everyday life – in retail, in gastronomy, in culture, sport, leisure.”
The current caution is also based on the fact that despite the currently stable situation in the hospitals, there could still be an overload. “Omicron has not yet reached older people,” said virologist Drosten. In countries with an even poorer vaccination rate, such as the USA, you can see that the virus is also spreading to these groups there.
There are now high intensive care admissions and increasing death rates. “There is no reason why it shouldn’t be the same in Germany,” said Drosten. “We still have a month or two of winter weather ahead of us.” That’s why the virus also has time to work its way into the groups of older people.
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