Corona debacle in Bavaria: Merkel supports Söder - and is now getting broadside herself

Markus Söder suddenly has a massive problem as a corona manager. Angela Merkel has him defended. But the focus is also on the federal government - there is talk of "state failure".

• The coronavirus * seems to be rolling in again massively in Germany at the time of travel.
• Bavaria's state government wanted to respond with tests for returnees, but it had apparently risen.
• There is now criticism of Markus Söder - but the focus is also on the Chancellor and the role of the Federal Government.

Munich / Berlin - First celebrated pandemic manager - now under attack from all sides: The test debacle at the hastily introduced stations for travelers put Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) in distress.

But the scandal doesn't have to end here. Even the outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel * (CDU), who was apparently immune to criticism, and her government are now being criticized. Merkel is now charged with a decision made months ago. This also resonates with the harsh thesis that the federal states are not in a position to get the situation under control on their own.

Corona test breakdown in Bavaria: Merkel lets Söder defend - and is now in focus herself

Merkel - who was still producing bright pictures with Söder in July - actually had Söder protected by her spokesman Steffen Seibert on Friday (August 14) . "The strategy of testing a lot is correct, everything must be done to detect infections at an early stage," he said in Berlin .

The breakdown in Bavaria was “regrettable”, but it was precisely the Free State that “expanded its test capacities early on”, praised Seibert. In the meantime, those responsible there have also made sure to “inform those affected as soon as possible”. However, those affected continue to report "chaos". Seibert expressed overall concern about the high number of corona cases in Germany. This also has to do with the fact that people are traveling more "and, unfortunately, bring an infection back with them in not so rare cases ".

Angela Merkel now also in need of Corona? "Bavarian state failure extends to the federal government"

Numerous opposition politicians and health expert Karl Lauterbach from the small coalition partner SPD also expressed concern . But they are now also targeting Merkel. An old demand is celebrating a revival: The federal government should take on more responsibility in the pandemic. Merkel had withdrawn from the central management of crisis management quite early after a violent dispute between the country leaders. Since then, the federal states have been largely uncoordinated and solely responsible.

Left parliamentary group leader Amira Mohamed Ali now said with a view to the breakdown in Bavaria , where tens of thousands of people returning from vacation had to be tested and sometimes had to wait a long time for their result, even if the results were positive: “The Bavarian state failure extends to the federal government because the federal government does has so far failed to adequately support and coordinate the federal states. "Just admitting mistakes in Munich is not enough - consequences must also be drawn at the federal level."

Lauterbach said on ZDF - "Morgenmagazin", in the current situation the federal government should "get more involved again". The regular consultations with the countries in the first phase of the pandemic brought "a clear strategy", he said. "That's a bit of a problem at the moment." In order to keep the infection situation under control, the health authorities should concentrate on so-called clusters , i.e. clusters of corona infections , based on the Japanese model . The virologist Christian Drosten recently suggested this - and received criticism.

(4) We will still have to test many returnees, teachers, caregivers and children and adults who have had a cold in autumn. This is simply impossible with standard PCR. There is already a lack of reagents. The staff is partly exhausted. Adjustments must be made during testing

Söder's Corona debacle in Bavaria: The federal government is also criticized - "evidence of dramatic deficits"

Fundamental criticism also came from the Liberals. FDP parliamentary group vice-president Frank Sitta called for a "comprehensive digital pact for the health system". The fact that the mishap in the transmission of test results can be traced back to the manual data transfer is "crystal clear evidence of the dramatic deficits in the digitization of the health system," he told the Handelsblatt . In view of the renewed increase in the number of infections, it would be imperative to transmit the data on all test results via digital interfaces "immediately and without errors".

Most of the measures in the corona pandemic, such as contact restrictions or the mask requirement, are the responsibility of the federal states. Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) was able to introduce compulsory testing for travelers from risk areas, but the federal states are responsible for implementation. With the Corona app, for example, the federal government took over the scepter - and also experienced massive problems.

Meanwhile, Markus Söders * management of the travel tests in particular is massively panned in the press - there is talk of a "disaster" and "overconfidence". ( AFP / fn ) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital network .