The Federal Minister of Health does not give the all-clear. On the contrary: He now wants the fourth vaccination for people aged 60 and over.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin In view of the high number of infections, the federal states are coming under increasing pressure to extend the current corona rules. For this to happen, resolutions on the so-called hotspot rule would have to be made in the state parliaments this week. “We’re losing time, we have to act now,” said Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) on Monday after the switch with his departmental colleagues from the federal states. He hopes that even more federal states will use the rule.
So far, only Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Hamburg have declared their entire country to be a hotspot. Thuringia is also planning to discuss this. On the other hand, other states such as Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony currently see no legal basis for a hotspot regulation despite the record number of new infections, although they would welcome the measures being retained. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) said again on Monday that he would not make use of the rule.
The core question is whether, for example, the obligation to wear masks indoors should be retained beyond April 2nd. This expires with the new Infection Protection Act. It only allows masks and tests to be compulsory in facilities such as clinics and nursing homes. For stricter rules, a federal state would have to formally declare itself a hotspot and then ultimately decide this in the state parliament.
Some countries pushed the health ministers to extend the transitional rule that expires on Saturday by a further four weeks. Then the stricter rules could continue to apply without a hotspot. However, the motion did not find a majority.
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Lauterbach spoke of a “consistently conflict-ridden situation”. He, too, would consider a nationwide mask requirement indoors to be sensible. However, since there is no national threat to health care, this cannot be legally implemented. The countries should therefore make use of the hotspot rule.
FDP against “blanket” hotspot rule
In the switch he also explained the criteria according to which this was possible. The general requirement is that there is a risk of the clinic capacity being overloaded. This applies when clinics can no longer provide emergency care – firstly because of too many corona patients or staff shortages; secondly, if they have to cancel planned interventions or, thirdly, have to transfer patients to other houses – and fourthly, if the requirements for a minimum presence of nursing staff cannot be met.
Lauterbach: “There can be no question of a Freedom Day”
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr, on the other hand, insisted on Monday that the federal states should not apply the hotspot regulation for stricter measures “generally”. “As a reminder: The hotspot regulation is an option that we have introduced for the federal states if there is a risk of the health system being overloaded in individual cities or municipalities,” Dürr told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “We have therefore created a clear legal framework. The hotspot solution is subject to strict requirements and clearly cannot be applied across the board.”
Dürr also said that the countries that were at odds with the hotspot regulation must now bear responsibility and “use the existing legal framework without exploiting it”. The countries are not defenseless in the fight against the pandemic. “Anyone who claims otherwise has either not understood the law or is afraid to take responsibility.”
More: Lauterbach: The actual number of infections is more than 600,000 per day