Berlin According to a draft law by Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP), almost all corona measures should be dropped by March 20th. Only the obligation to wear masks and tests to protect vulnerable groups should remain in place.
In addition, basic protective instruments, such as distance requirements and access restrictions, should continue to be possible in regions that are particularly affected. This emerges from the draft law, which is available to the Handelsblatt and is to be passed in the Bundestag next week.
The background is that according to a relaxation plan decided by the federal and state governments on March 20th, “all more profound” restrictions are to be lifted if the situation in the clinics allows it.
At the same time, however, it was agreed that there should continue to be “basic protection”. This is what the follow-up regulation is about, since the previous basis for protective measures in the Infection Protection Act expires on March 19th.
The draft agreed by health and justice ministers was preceded by weeks of wrangling. While the SPD and the Greens wanted to maintain the basis for as many applicable restrictions as possible, the FDP pushed for comprehensive easing.
Lauterbach relies on the two-pillar model
However, the two ministers were satisfied with the compromise. “The result is impressive,” said Lauterbach on Wednesday in Berlin. It is not about simply letting the pandemic run its course – but being able to react again if the numbers continue to rise. Lauterbach was confident that the current wave of infections could be brought under control despite the easing.
Only the obligation to wear masks and tests to protect vulnerable groups should remain in place.
(Photo: dpa)
Minister of Justice Buschmann spoke of an “intensive” exchange. The compromise is based on two pillars. So there will be “virtually no more restrictions” in the everyday life of the citizens, said Buschmann. We return to normality as much as possible. Exceptions are tests where there are many vulnerable people and masks, for example in public transport.
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The second pillar is a hotspot regulation. Specifically, restrictions and conditions should be able to be imposed to contain corona outbreaks if the state parliament decides to do so. To this end, state parliaments should have to determine the “concrete danger of a dynamically spreading infection situation”.
Measures should then be able to be enacted in a “specifically to be named regional authority”. These include the obligation to wear masks, distance requirements, hygiene concepts and proof of vaccination, recovery or tests – i.e. regulations such as 2G and 3G.
Without an additional parliamentary decision, the state governments should also be able to prescribe general protective measures in addition to basic protection, such as a mask requirement in care facilities and hospitals. In addition to mandatory tests in care facilities, these should also remain possible in schools.
A mask requirement in long-distance trains and airplanes should continue to be anchored nationwide. The federal states should have until April 2 to implement the new rules in state law. The measures are limited to the beginning of September.
Criticism from Lower Saxony
However, the federal government’s draft has also met with criticism. Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) pointed out that there are currently high levels of corona infections again.
It is difficult to understand that it is precisely in such a phase that the toolbox for containing the pandemic should be restricted, says Weil. “You don’t throw away the fire extinguisher if it’s still burning.” The federal states would lose so many options for action “that we consider necessary,” explained the Prime Minister. This includes, for example, a general mask requirement for large crowds of people in closed rooms.
“Don’t fool yourself,” warned Weil. The infection situation in spring and summer will hopefully be relaxed. But if nothing changes, if the vaccination rate in particular remains at the current level, then problems will arise again in the autumn. “Anyone who makes a law today should perhaps also include the situation in half a year in their considerations,” said the head of government.
Corona expert council concerned about infection
The Federal Government’s Corona Expert Council also expressed concern about the current infection process in a statement. A renewed burden on the health system cannot be ruled out, it said.
Against this background, emergency strategies should be developed and implemented at any time for successful pandemic control, the committee suggested on Tuesday evening. These considerations would also apply to future pandemics, epidemics and infection-related risk situations.
The Council therefore advocates a legal framework that provides ad hoc tools for infection control and civil protection and thus enables infection control measures to be adjusted immediately. Responsiveness is a key factor.
The Covid-19 pandemic is currently characterized by the reduced average severity of the disease in the omicron variant, and there is currently justified hope that the social effects of the pandemic will be alleviated, the statement said. This is primarily due to the protective effect of the vaccination against severe disease progression.
From a scientific point of view, however, a reappearance of the delta variant or related variants, the occurrence of cross-breeding forms with increased danger and the occurrence of new variants with a further loss of the existing immune protection are possible. The emergence of new virus variants usually requires rapid reactions in order to ensure effective protection against infection.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported an increase in the nationwide seven-day incidence for the seventh day in a row. The RKI gave the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week on Wednesday morning as 1319.0. For comparison: the day before the value was 1293.6. The health authorities in Germany reported 215,854 new corona infections to the RKI within one day. A week ago there were 186,406 infections.
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