The resolutions of the Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the Prime Ministers of the 16 federal states initiate the turnaround in the corona policy.
(Photo: dpa)
On Thursday morning it looked bleak about the German corona policy. In the Bundestag, the SPD, Union, Greens and FDP covered each other with accusations. In view of the dramatic corona situation, it was an unworthy spectacle, accompanied by hoots, heckling and raving about paragraphs about the end of the epidemic situation.
The Union-led federal states even threatened to block the parliamentary groups’ legislative proposal for a possible traffic light government in the Federal Council. Then Germany would have been without a corona plan – with more than 65,000 new infections and 300 deaths a day and more than 3,300 corona patients in the intensive care units.
Measured against this, the result of the federal-state conference is a real breakthrough. Politics is waking up from the corona slumber. The resolutions of the Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the Prime Ministers of the 16 federal states initiate the turnaround in the corona policy. With compulsory vaccinations for medical professions and extensive contact restrictions up to lockdown measures, they contain resolutions that were unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
In the summer, it was still assumed that vaccination will remain voluntary and that at least those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered will get through the corona winter without restrictions. The federal and state governments have now finally moved away from this, as the situation has worsened dramatically due to the high number of unvaccinated people and the delayed refreshment campaign.
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With new limit values, the patchwork of 16 different corona rules of the federal states is merging into uniform rules that leave little room for maneuver. 3G will apply in the future in buses, trains and at work. And the hospitalization rate will be used in future to decide which further cuts the population will have to accept. The number of corona patients in hospitals is already so high that the 2G rule will apply in almost all federal states.
The lockdown is back
For the unvaccinated, this is in fact a lockdown, they can no longer go to restaurants, shops and other facilities. In countries such as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Baden-Württemberg, 2G plus will apply in the future – people who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered must also be tested there. And in Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and soon Bavaria too, the highest lockdown level is already in place, after which major events can be canceled and clubs closed.
Lockdown is back – and that’s probably just the beginning. The effectiveness of the measures is to be reassessed on December 9, so that they may be tightened, for example with more extensive closings.
It is also true: this is disastrous news for everyone who suffered from the restrictions in the previous waves. Even in the run-up to the federal-state meeting, retailers warned of nationwide 2G rules. They cannot be controlled, and there is a risk of sales losses that hoteliers and restaurateurs are already experiencing.
That is also the bitter price for the sleepy corona policy. And the federal and state governments are well advised not to forget the way out of the pandemic, namely vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate in the delusion of measures. Vaccination centers now need to ramp up so nearly 30 million people can get their third vaccination by the end of the year.
In addition, vaccination teams and strict control of the 2G measures are required, otherwise the incentive to vaccinate is gone. Then all efforts would be – once again – in vain.
More: Compulsory vaccination for medical professions and threshold values for contact restrictions – the results of the federal-state meeting