Corona crisis in Bavaria - Landtag SPD calls for daycare centers: "Nobody understands that anymore"

For weeks, children have not been in daycare or school, but at home. There are always loosenings, but the Landtag SPD does not go far enough.

• Because of Corona *, daycare centers are currently still closed.
• Now there are far-reaching loosenings for day-care centers and day care in Bavaria - from May 25th.
• An overview of who is allowed to come - and who is not yet. (See May 19 update)
• There is more on this topic and many other exciting stories in our app. How the Downloa d works.

Update from May 22: After Pentecost, the SPD believes that all children in the Bavarian state parliament should be able to visit a day care center in the Free State again . "I demand that after the Pentecost holidays, all children can finally go back to their daycare centers!" Said Doris Rauscher , Member of the State Parliament in Munich. “ That applies to 80 percent of kindergarten children anyway. Then why not for the remaining 20 percent? Nobody understands that anymore. ”Because of the corona pandemic, there have so far only been emergency care facilities in kindergartens and daycare centers in the Free State.

The chairwoman of the social committee in the state parliament criticized above all the current regulatory confusion of the state government: In general, there are still no prospects of return for the three-year-olds in Bavaria. They would have to be looked after at home for an indefinite period of time, unless their parents work in so-called "systemically relevant" jobs or are working as single parents.

"By mid-June, many families had been under constant strain for three months - that must end! In any case, the state government can no longer justify this arbitrary defection of families by infection protection, ”emphasized Rauscher. She is also afraid of the mental and social development of the three-year-olds, who have had to grow up in this crucial phase for so long without contact with their peers.

Corona crisis in Bavaria: further easing planned for day care centers - already from Monday (May 25)

Update of May 19: The Bavarian government decided in its cabinet meeting today (May 19) to further relax the day care centers and kindergartens  . According to this, emergency care is to be gradually expanded again from Monday (May 25). From then on, preschool children and their siblings (if they are visiting the same institution) will have unrestricted access.

Corona crisis at daycare centers in Bavaria: large day care is opened - subject to conditions

The large day care opens. From May 25, a maximum of ten children will be looked after by two or three day carers at the same time. Forest kindergartens and other non-building-related daycare facilities also open , because here the day-care center operates in the fresh air and the risk of infection should therefore tend to be lower.

Health protection is the top priority for all measures. In future, the smallest possible, and above all, fixed groups should be formed, which are cared for by permanent caregivers. Children with symptoms of illness continue to be prohibited from entering

Corona crisis in Bavaria: Further measures after Pentecost holidays

As far as the development of the infection process allows, after the Pentecost holidays from June 15, 2020, the children who will go to school in the school year 2021/22 and the crib children who are at the transition to kindergarten should be taken back.

In addition, from then on, the pupils of the 2nd and 3rd grades should be looked after again in the day care centers on the school days.

Update from May 15th : The corona crisis threatens to close daycare centers all over Bavaria . 25 percent of private and free daycare centers could face the end. The chairwoman of the social committee of the state parliament, Doris Rauscher (SPD) warns of this . "Around a quarter of private day-care centers and institutions could be forced to give up because of money problems," she said. It therefore urgently calls for the cost-effective support of daycare centers and parents from the Free State of Bavaria.

“Especially now that many children are not yet allowed to go back to daycare and need to be looked after at home, society is seeing how important professional child care is. And yet the state government is letting the daycare center operators down, ”she criticizes. Before her parliamentary term, Rauscher had run several daycare centers for years. "When the lockdown ends, there could simply not be thousands of daycare places."

Corona crisis in Bavaria hits kindergartens - SPD MPs: Söder announcement is "air number"

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder had announced that the Free State would pay the daycare fees for three months, but that has unfortunately not yet happened, as she explains in a press release. Almost every day, Rauscher receives worried letters from parents and daycare center operators: “Söder's statement has caused chaos throughout Bavaria . In many places, parents are encouraged by the government to stop paying contributions, while daycare centers are still not receiving compensation. When parents hear that the fees are being paid, they are right to assume that the providers will have 100 percent of the lost revenue replaced. ”

But that is not yet the case, according to Rauscher: The government's planned flat-rate reimbursements of € 300 a month for a crèche child, € 100 for a day care child and € 50 for a kindergarten child are far from sufficient, especially in conurbations To cover costs. And another criticism from Rauscher: As soon as a daycare center applies for state support, it may no longer charge any additional parents' contributions . The result: Many daycare centers go into debt. Rauscher therefore urges: “Smaller institutions, whether privately or privately, do not have the financial reserves to do this. The day-care centers and parents are left completely alone by the state government! The full-bodied announcement by Mr. Söder is an air number that urgently needs to be improved! "

Corona in Bavaria: daycare centers and playgrounds will open in Bavaria from Wednesday May 6th

Update May 5, 12.30 p.m .: As the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder is currently announcing in a press conference, the day care centers are to be opened piece by piece as of tomorrow (May 6). According to Söder, the goal is to have 50 percent of the children in the daycare centers again until Pentecost. The playgrounds will also open again on Wednesday (May 6th).

Original article from May 4th: Munich - How are the little ones in the Corona crisis * ? North Rhine-Westphalia was the first federal state to threaten to go it alone when it opened its daycare. Lower Saxony followed suit on Monday: childminders may work there again. From May 18, emergency care will also be expanded in the north. And in Bavaria? Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had previously seen daycare centers and elementary schools at the bottom of the list of easing measures. On Wednesday, he consults with his colleague and chancellor Angela Merkel. The voices that the federal and state governments should not lose sight of daycare centers are growing louder.

Melanie Keihl is one of those who fully understand the corona rules. The managing director of Neue KinderFan GmbH operates three day care centers in Munich. But she also clearly demands: "Now is the time to re-open crèches, kindergartens and primary schools." In the age group up to ten, it is still medically controversial how high the risk of infection is. "Nevertheless, the children in society are labeled as scapegoats and have to suffer especially from the situation."

Day-care center failure in corona crisis: "The nerves are now blank"

This can be confirmed by Tobias Albert, whose three children (3, 5 and 9 years old) have been at home for seven weeks now instead of in the crèche, pre-school or primary school. The burden on the 40-year-old and his wife is increasing. "Every day is different," he says. It shows that the behavior of the little ones is changing more and more. They are restless, do not want to go to bed for hours in the evening, just burst into tears. "Where words used to be enough" is already being fought over.

"The nerves are blank now." And that doesn't make it easier for parents either. Albert is self-employed in building cleaning. He is also someone who informs himself, who studies the corona numbers and asks questions. There are almost no answers for him at the moment. That is why he does not expect childcare to start operating again soon. Even if he expects exactly that from the talks of the politicians.

Coronavirus in Bavaria - After reopening one thing is absolutely necessary: ​​many tests

When taking the first steps back to normality, one thing is particularly important for the education and science union in Bavaria : "The greatest possible protection for everyone involved," explains Managing Director Elke Hahn. In each day care center, the spatial conditions are different. It is therefore a thought to evaluate each facility individually - with the involvement of the staff councils. After reopening, one thing is absolutely necessary: ​​many tests .

Ria Szengel, 33 with the twins Leo (right) and Ole (20 months old). She hopes to relax in daycare centers.

© Achim Frank Schmidt

Marina K. (36) is currently wondering what the contagion situation is like. However, the student hopes that she can bring her twins Lias and Luca back to daycare as soon as possible. "It's really stressful right now. The studies are currently running online, but it is still an immense burden to bring everything under one roof. ” Ria Scengel relies on relief for families in which both parents work. The engineer (33) also has twins who would actually be in the daycare. It is also for an opening - if the framework conditions fit.

Doctors are campaigning for the opening of daycare centers: Interview with an infectious disease specialist

An increasing number of pediatricians are also campaigning for daycare to be opened - provided that hygiene measures are followed and close checks and random corona tests are carried out. "If these conditions are met consistently, you can risk this step," says Professor Dr. Johannes Hübner. 

The renowned chief infectiologist at the Hauners Children's Clinic is currently doing intensive research on the subject of corona in children. A large clinical study is already under his leadership, which is funded by the Care for Rare Foundation. The tz interview:

How big is the threat potential of the new corona virus for children - and for adults, when schools and day care centers are reopened?

Professor Dr. Johannes Hübner: Children are much less affected by corona than adults. They are less common and the disease is severe only in a few cases. Very often children show no symptoms at all. Only one to two percent of the patients who tested positive are children. Deaths are an absolute rarity. One child has died in Germany so far, and thankfully there are very few victims worldwide.

However, there are also children who need to be treated with Covid-19 in hospitals. Are current figures available for this?

Hübner: Yes, the German Society for Pediatric Infectiology maintains a registration register. According to this, 121 children are currently being treated in Germany, 14 of them in intensive care units. So far, we have had a few cases in our Hauners Children's Clinic, only one child needed intensive care. We are now testing every child who comes to our clinic for the new type of corona virus. Of about 200 children, three have been positive so far, in two cases the infection was previously known.

Politicians fear that children could pass the virus on to their parents and grandparents. Is this concern justified?

Hübner: We still don't know much about how contagious children really are. However, there are so-called family transmission studies, for example from China. It is traced back to who brought the virus into the family. Children were only in about ten percent of the cases. Mostly it was the adults who infected the children.

Interview: Andreas Beez

* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network. Find out everything about the corona virus here: For example, about entry requirements, research, and our factual article.