Corona measures in December: what is allowed in which federal state

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A sign in Düsseldorf indicates that you must comply with the mask requirement

Photo: Federico Gambarini / dpa

What is it now?

This question about the Corona rules was not easy to answer even before the meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

At the meeting, the partial shutdown was extended and tightened.

But what that means in concrete terms depends on the respective federal state.

In some places there are already different regulations - from the number of people allowed for meetings on public holidays to possible hotel stays.

And there is uncertainty nationwide: Many of the rules are scheduled until Christmas week, some until New Year.

An example:

• Berlin wants to allow relatives to stay in hotels over the Christmas holidays - but at the same time only allow five people to sit together around the Christmas tree, excluding children up to 12 years.

• In Bavaria, on the other hand, up to ten people from several households can meet on public holidays.

  Children up to 14 years of age excluded.

  But so far they should only stay privately.

Basically, the

The shutdown that has been in effect since November is extended to December 20.

Restaurants and bars, among other things, remain closed, and private hotel stays are still not allowed.

In addition, an important tightening will apply from December: Private get-togethers with friends, relatives and acquaintances should be limited to a maximum of five people from your own household and one other household.

But Christmas should be able to be celebrated with close family and friends, with a maximum of ten people from an unlimited number of households.

The Christmas holidays for schoolchildren should start on December 19th.

But: Not all countries want to implement this exactly as the overview shows:

The countries' corona measures

• Baden-Württemberg:

  In the southwest, there are initially no deviations from the jointly made Corona resolutions.

  Some of the stricter rules - such as an extended mask requirement - have already been introduced here in recent weeks.

• Bavaria:

  The Free State implements all the rules of the federal-state decision.

  Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) described the current shutdown as only a partial success.

  He assumes that the tightened measures will be extended beyond December 20 into January.

• Berlin:

  The capital does not want to participate in the easing for Christmas, the contact limit to five people remains.

  However, these may come from more than two households.

  The city is based on a passage from the federal-state resolution, which enables stricter measures for places with particularly high incidence values: From a number of 200 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week, the corona rules are to be tightened.

  In Berlin, this so-called seven-day incidence on Thursday was 215.6.

  However, Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) wants to allow private hotel stays over the holidays, as these have no tourist purpose.

• Brandenburg:

  The state wants to implement Wednesday's resolutions.

  Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) had already made it clear in a state parliament debate on Thursday that he considers the rules to be "appropriate, proportionate and necessary".

• Bremen:

  The city is implementing the new rules as decided by the federal and state governments - or had already introduced them in advance.

  In particular, the now resolved mask requirement at schools from the 7th grade onwards has been in effect in Bremen since mid-November.

  Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) assumes that the measures will be extended into the new year.

• Hamburg:

  The Hanseatic city wants to make the mask requirement stricter than intended.

  The wearing of mouth and nose protection is being expanded to include publicly accessible rooms, queues and crowds, for example in front of shops.

  In general, the mask requirement should apply at the workplace, so workers on site cannot keep a minimum distance, said Hamburg's First Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD).

  Celebrations with up to ten people are allowed at Christmas - but from a maximum of four households.

  Nevertheless, like some other federal states, Hamburg wants to open its hotels to private overnight stays.

• Hesse:

  In Wiesbaden, they want to make it possible to stay in a hotel for family visits on the holidays.

  In doing so, the state is opposing the Chancellery’s request to keep hotels closed for private overnight stays.

• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania:

  Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) wants to implement most of the corona measures, but holds out the prospect of possible easing.

  They should depend on the development of the regional infection process.

  Most likely, the stricter rules in retail should not be accepted.

  It is also unclear whether the newly resolved mask requirement in front of retail stores and in parking lots should be implemented.

  The state will not discuss the measures until Saturday.

• Lower Saxony:

  The federal state already implemented a possible tightening in the federal-state resolution in the case of particularly high incidence values ​​on Thursday: In schools in a district where the seven-day incidence exceeds 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, from 7th year, the classes in the affected hotspots automatically switch to the changing model.

  The mask requirement at schools has also been in effect in Lower Saxony for a long time.

• North Rhine-Westphalia:

  Hotel stays for family members should be possible over the holidays.

  Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) said that tourist trips are prohibited, but if families visit each other and have no accommodation with relatives, this is "not understood as tourist travel." 

• Rhineland-Palatinate:

  Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) wants to implement the federal-state resolutions one-to-one.

  At the same time, she appealed to citizens to work from home as much as possible and to refrain from traveling such as skiing holidays.

  "The principle applies: we stay at home."

• Saarland:

  The state wants to implement the stricter rules.

• Saxony:

  Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) wants to implement the Corona rules and tighten them in parts.

  He announced further restrictions from next week for regions with particularly high numbers of corona infections.

  Among other things, fewer people will then be allowed to meet and drinking alcohol in public should be prohibited.

  In addition, residents in the affected areas should only leave their homes for good reason. 

• Saxony-Anhalt:

  The state wants to support the contact restrictions on five people - but waive the restriction on a maximum of two households.

  The fixation on household items is difficult to grasp and does not correspond to the reality of life for many people in the country, said Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU).

• Schleswig-Holstein:

  The northernmost federal state, with its significantly lower corona incidence values, can in part refer to a passage in the federal-state decision that allows exceptions to the tightening.

  In concrete terms: nail, cosmetic and massage studios as well as zoos and game reserves are allowed to reopen from Monday.

  There should be a maximum of one customer per 10 square meters of sales area in shops.

  The contact restriction to five people in the private sector will not be implemented: Schleswig-Holstein allows up to ten people from as few households as possible throughout December.

  Hotels should also be allowed to offer private overnight stays over the holidays.

  Those who travel to relatives must also be able to spend the night here, said Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU).

  Having to do this in a 40 square meter apartment would also not be wise from a virological point of view, says Günther.

• Thuringia:

  Unlike other federal states, Thuringia does not bring its holiday start to December 19, but stays at December 23.

  However, students from grade 7 should stay at home in the days before Christmas and receive distance lessons there.

In mid-December, the federal and state governments want to assess whether the measures will be extended into January.

As early as Wednesday's decision, it was stated that there is little chance of easing: “The federal and state governments are assuming that, due to the high level of infection, comprehensive restrictions by the beginning of January

(especially in the area of ​​gastronomy and hotels) will be necessary. "

There is a dispute not only about the implementation of the individual measures - but also about the financing of the corona costs.

Many federal politicians want to make the federal states more responsible, there they reject it.

"In the corona pandemic, it is important that all levels of government work together trustingly," said the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer of the "Rheinische Post".

The countries have spent billions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the economy, culture and society.

»Unacceptable that the countries should evade their financial responsibility«

Saxony-Anhalt's Prime Minister Haseloff also sees the federal government as having a special responsibility.

The basis of all measures is the Infection Protection Act, which is only implemented by the federal states.

"A withdrawal of the federal government would mean that the fight against Corona in the future will be much less uniform and depends on the purse of the states."

Anyone who gives the impression that the federal states and municipalities are not sufficiently involved in the financing of the corona follow-up costs are "not acting fairly," said Haseloff.

Ralph Brinkhaus, Union faction leader in the Bundestag, had criticized the division of the corona costs between the federal government and the federal states in parliament on Thursday: The federal states should "finally contribute financially to this matter and not always just make decisions and then present the bill to the federal government.

Brinkhaus had already made a similar statement in the SPIEGEL interview.

Eckhardt Rehberg, budget spokesman for the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, and Dennis Rohde, his counterpart in the SPD parliamentary group, also issued a joint statement with clear criticism of the behavior of the federal states.

The burden on the federal government to cushion the corona pandemic has limits, it says.

"It is no longer acceptable for countries to evade their financial responsibility."

The federal government must immediately enter into negotiations with the states about financial participation in economic aid.

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mrc / dpa