Baden-Württemberg is one of the federal states most affected by corona. Now the country wants to postpone a decision on diesel driving bans because of the pandemic.
- Baden-Württemberg is particularly affected by the spread of coronavirus within Germany.
- There are now even more corona deaths in the state than in North Rhine-Westphalia .
- With reference to the pandemic-related exceptional situation, the country is now calling for a decision on diesel driving bans to be postponed .
- Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus * and the corona news from Germany. You can also find current case numbers in Germany here as a map *. The following recommendations for corona protective measures * are currently available.
Stuttgart - The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg is the most affected by the Coronavirus * spread in Germany. As the German press agency announced on Thursday afternoon, more than 21,400 corona infections and at least 514 deaths as a result of Covid-19 have been confirmed there.
Corona virus: Baden-Württemberg has many corona deaths
Baden-Württemberg is only surpassed by Bavaria with more than 29,200 documented cases and at least 653 corona deaths. If one looks at the infection numbers, North Rhine-Westphalia is also ahead of Baden-Württemberg with more than 23,300 people infected with Covid 19. In terms of the number of deaths, however, NRW is in third place behind Baden-Württemberg with 445 deaths confirmed so far. The following also applies to all three federal states: The experts expect a high number of unreported cases .
The corona crisis in Baden-Württemberg could now also have an impact on an area that would initially not be associated with the pandemic . The state asked the Stuttgart Administrative Court to postpone possible diesel driving bans or traffic restrictions in the state capital.
In a letter, the court was asked to postpone a decision on the subject originally planned for April , the Ministry of Transport said on Thursday. The corona virus pandemic and lower levels of pollutants would justify "breathing space in air pollution control".
Corona virus could affect diesel driving bans
"The corona crisis requires rethinking and new priorities," the ministry said. Since the introduction of the contact restrictions * on main roads, car traffic has decreased by a third on weekdays and nitrogen dioxide measurements have also improved “by up to ten micrograms” . "Therefore, we asked the court to accept a postponement for the time of the contact restrictions." Subsequently, driving bans, "if necessary", could come into force promptly.
But Minister of Transport Winfried Hermann (Greens) wants to prevent this as far as possible and instead promised the Stuttgart “new measures appropriate to the situation, such as the release of car tracks for cycling . "Hardware retrofitting is also available and must now be used more," Hermann said.
By the way: You can find out what people in Stuttgart think about the government's corona measures in the video survey.
You can read the latest news on corona virus developments around the world in our news ticker.
dpa, AFP, cia
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.