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Corona in Emsdetten: Why a security service controls the quarantine

2020-09-30T18:23:40.286Z


In Emsdetten, private security guards are standing in front of two apartment buildings and checking whether the residents remain in quarantine. Mayor Georg Moenikes explains why he decided to do so.


Icon: enlarge

Emsdetten in North Rhine-Westphalia (symbol picture)

Photo: imago images / blickwinkel

SPIEGEL

: Mr. Moenikes, in your city security guards should now ensure that the residents of two apartment buildings adhere to the corona rules.

Why?

Moenikes

: We have received information several times that infected people and their contact persons should not have stayed at home.

Instead, they went to the neighboring toy library or went shopping in their car.

I consciously choose the subjunctive here.

I only reproduce what neighbors and people who work in the area have said.

SPIEGEL

: So you are acting on the basis of rumors?

Moenikes

: That's an understatement.

When there is so much evidence from various sources, we need to act.

Otherwise they say: the city does nothing, it just lets it go.

That is danger prevention, it is about the health of the population.

You can't ask for long and clarify it one hundred percent - ideally with an expert and a working group.

If I have such clues, I have to investigate them.

SPIEGEL

: Which houses are affected?

Moenikes

: Two objects in which mainly people live who work in a turkey butchering company.

There was a corona outbreak there.

Before that, we had a dozen infected people in our city of around 36,000 inhabitants.

Now there are 62. The increase came almost entirely from the group of employees of this company.

Almost all of the company's employees and their families live in the two houses, an estimated 50 people.

Very important: There are no collective accommodation.

SPIEGEL

: But?

Moenikes

: Standalone rental apartments.

However, there is a lively back and forth there. People get confused, sometimes it is not even clear who is in which apartment.

In fact, it's like it's a big family.

But that is understandable, because they are mainly Bulgarians with loan or work contracts.

They have no social contacts here and they maintain them with each other.

We also had the quarantine orders translated into their mother tongue so that people could understand them.

"They don't stand there and hold people."

SPIEGEL

: What is the job of the security service?

Moenikes

: You should watch, not guard.

This is very important to me.

They don't stand there and hold people tight.

They are not allowed to.

But if their observations indicate that individuals are not adhering to the quarantine, they call the police.

In contrast to the security service, it has sovereign powers.

SPIEGEL

: But people who don't have to stay at home also live in the house.

How is a security guard supposed to recognize that someone is going outside or trying to get into the house without authorization?

Moenikes

: He can really only ask - and then has to decide, is that plausible or not.

If not, the police come back into play.

The security service can also ask for personal details, if someone gives this voluntarily, a call to the public order office is enough to find out whether there has been a violation.

If the person refuses to give their name, the police can again be called in.

SPIEGEL

: What does the measure cost?

Moenikes

: Up to 3000 euros a day.

SPIEGEL

: Was there no other way than a private security service?

Moenikes

: Like other regulatory agencies, ours does not have enough employees to observe this.

The police are also unable to do this.

That's why we brought in private workers.

SPIEGEL

: Is your city overloaded with the fight against Corona?

Moenikes

: Whether quarantine orders or the control of guest lists in restaurants: a regulatory authority has to act - and I need people for that.

The entire corona situation has an impact on our human resources.

We are reaching our personal limits everywhere.

Icon: The mirror

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2020-09-30

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