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Police officers in Hildburghausen: People spoke of walks
Photo: Steffen Ittig / dpa
SPIEGEL:
In Hildburghausen there are currently more than 600 new corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week.
Nevertheless, hundreds marched close together across the market square on Wednesday evening.
Do you now fear more infections?
Tilo Kummer
: At the moment there is no end in sight and we are planning further comprehensive tests, then the number of cases should continue to rise.
To person
Icon: enlarge Photo: imago images / Karina Hessland
Tilo Kummer
, born in 1968, is the mayor of Hildburghausen in Thuringia.
Before his election in the town of almost 12,000 inhabitants in March 2020, he sat for ten years for the party Die Linke in the Erfurt state parliament.
SPIEGEL
:
Are
you testing against the protest on the street?
Kummer:
No, we want to keep the massive restrictions in everyday life as short as possible.
Because there are real reasons why people say that they are dissatisfied or that their existence is threatened.
We have to help.
SPIEGEL:
But?
Kummer
: What stunned me is how many people expressed their displeasure yesterday, sometimes even without masks, in a non-registered meeting.
Some of them apparently still do not recognize the seriousness of the situation.
SPIEGEL
: So you understand people's anger, but not that they take it out onto the streets.
Kummer
: Right.
And certainly not without a mask.
"It was a diverse audience, but even those who wanted to express their anger about the casserole should have stayed at home."
SPIEGEL
: Your region is considered a stronghold of right-wing extremists. Can the protests be assigned to a political trend?
Kummer
: Nobody talked there, people ran across the market with candles, but there were also a few people with banners that I unfortunately could not read.
Those who were approached by the police for their reasons said they were going for a walk.
I cannot derive any political classification from this.
It was a diverse audience, but even those who wanted to express their anger about the casserole should have stayed at home.
It is clear that it should not be the last meeting, many are already meeting again on social media.
SPIEGEL
: How did the situation for you get so bad?
Kummer
: Our region was very little affected by the pandemic in the spring.
Lots of people didn't know anyone who had Corona.
When there were severe restrictions back then, many asked themselves: what for?
This mentality dragged on well into October, when the numbers rose here too.
People then got infected, especially at private parties.
Now we are also deeply affected in nursing homes with often dire consequences for their health-impaired residents.
We have cases with the fire brigade, the police and in the penal system.
In the daycare centers in our city, more than half of all children were already under quarantine last week.
SPIEGEL:
How does that affect basic services in the city?
Kummer:
Clinic employees and fire fighters also have children, but we have to fear that we will not even be able to ensure emergency care for these children - because the staff is themselves in quarantine or sick.
In the district we had recently signed off three fire stations and one ambulance station.
This means that in three municipalities in the region, the fire brigade would not have been on site in the event of a fire, and an ambulance could no longer drive.
If the main station in Hildburghausen is down because of Corona, I can no longer even secure the tunnel rescue on the ICE route with us.
We are working to the limit and have to keep the administration going.
SPIEGEL:
Why is there so loud anger about the bans?
Kummer:
That was mainly done via social networks and when I watch the big demo in Leipzig, Hildburghausen is not detached from the rest of the country.
The tone is aggressive.
With regard to the corona tests and an expected vaccination, extreme positions are taken, including conspiracy theories.
One can certainly disagree about the rapid development of vaccines, but a corona test does not pose a risk.
The district wants to try with quick tests next week to get our schools and daycare centers back into regular operation.
The country has procured 10,000 tests for this.
“Those who test negative should be allowed to go to school or daycare again.
We will see how high the willingness to test is then
SPIEGEL
: Do you want to force your citizens to take the tests?
Kummer:
No, the tests should be voluntary.
But we urgently need a picture of the situation and we hope that affected parents can be relieved of childcare again.
Those who test negative should be allowed to go to school or daycare again.
We will see how high the willingness to test is then.
SPIEGEL
: Should the federal government explain the current corona policy better?
Kummer
: I think it has been a problem for months.
Then there is a telephone conference from the federal and state governments, afterwards the state ministers switch to the district administrators and we are the last to hear about it on site.
On Monday I was in the town hall in the cultural and social committee, a city council colleague pointed me to an MDR report with the information that it had been decided that I would have to close all municipal daycare centers on Wednesday.
I didn't know that beforehand and I couldn't have informed the citizens earlier.
Parents who are not entitled to emergency care suddenly had to look within a day to see how their children were being looked after.
The sense of the measures was also not always explained.
SPIEGEL
: What do you want to do yourself?
Kummer
: We want to provide more information on our city's Facebook page.
But the two employees who look after them are also just sick.
SPIEGEL
: Covid-19?
Kummer
: I hope not, the test result is still pending.
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