Berlin Before the Corona summit next week, criticism of the planned relaxation of the traffic light coalition is increasing. “We are experiencing a wave of 200 to 300 deaths a day due to the more contagious BA.2 variant – despite the measures that are still in force,” Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) told the Handelsblatt. “I don’t think it’s wise to drop all caution in this situation.”
According to the Robert Koch Institute, the nationwide seven-day incidence rose to 1526.8 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week on Sunday. 146,607 new corona infections were counted within one day.
The draft law by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) is to be passed in the Bundestag next week. The countries should then be responsible for which further protective measures still apply in hotspots that are to be determined separately. Because also practiced criticism.
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“This rule doesn’t help us,” he said. “It no longer gives us all the security instruments that are currently helping us.” For example, there is no distance requirement and thus capacity restrictions for major events. “In addition, the bar for a hotspot is so high and the process is so cumbersome that applying this rule is very difficult.” He does not think that “we can get the pandemic under control,” said Weil.
“It costs valuable time”
In order to implement the rule, a special session of the state parliament is necessary. In addition, it must be proven which measures are specifically necessary and that there is a risk of the health system being overloaded. “It takes valuable time,” Weil said. “In autumn 2020 we made the mistake of waiting too long to take protective measures. We shouldn’t make that mistake again.”
The situation would ease up in six to eight weeks at the latest. “But things will look different again in the fall,” said Weil. “If things go badly, there is a new mutation, or Delta returns, or a variant from different mutations.” The country must prepare for this – “not only with a well-stocked tool kit, but also with a high vaccination rate”.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) also sees Germany exposed to new virus variants without protection with the revised Infection Protection Act. The design of the traffic light has real gaps and weaknesses, Söder told the “Bild am Sonntag”.
“Basically, there are no longer any real protective measures. This means that in autumn we are defenseless and defenseless against new mutations. For example, largely omitting the mask is premature and can quickly lead to a so-called contamination at school, for example,” he said.
Söder particularly criticized Health Minister Lauterbach. “The Federal Minister of Health is expecting new waves, and the traffic light will abolish all measures at the same time,” he said, referring to the red-green-yellow federal government. “If the traffic light has its way, Corona will be history next week. But that’s not the reality.”
Relaxed rules in the workplace
In fact, Lauterbach painted a bleak picture of the pandemic situation on Friday. “We are in a critical situation,” he said. The sub-variant BA.2, to which, according to the RKI, around every second infection can be attributed, is a problem “for hospital utilization and for people who die from Covid”.
Lauterbach: “Will not be able to get the pandemic under control in the fall without a general obligation to vaccinate”
According to the RKI, around 2,000 Covid patients are currently being treated in the intensive care units. In addition, more than 4,200 people have died of an infection in the past four weeks, and there are currently 1,000 deaths per week.
In addition to easing the Infection Protection Act, the government is also planning to relax the corona rules in the workplace from the beginning of spring. The draft regulation of the Federal Ministry of Labor provides that employers themselves should assess the risk of the virus and define appropriate measures in a company hygiene concept.
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Employers should also take regional infection rates into account. According to the draft, they should check whether they offer employees a corona test per week, whether they provide protective masks and whether employees should work from home. In the future, companies should also decide for themselves on protective measures such as distance and hygiene rules or the obligation to wear a mask.
Up to and including March 19, employers are still obliged to offer tests in their companies at least twice a week. Where other measures do not provide sufficient protection, there is currently also a mask requirement.
In addition to these rules, company 3G regulations apply, according to which employees must carry proof of vaccinations, convalescence or test certificates. Working from home is mandatory if the type of work allows it. It is planned that the new regulation will be passed in the cabinet on Wednesday.
Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) said: “We must continue to work together to ensure that the workplace does not become a place of infection.” Therefore, basic protective measures should also be maintained here.
More: Lauterbach warns of BA.2 – How the omicron subvariant drives the number of infections