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The construction of the Christmas market in Essen was stopped due to corona restrictions
Photo: Jochen Tack / imago images / Jochen Tack
The National Science Academy Leopoldina wants it, Chancellor Angela Merkel wants it - and so does a large majority of Germans: the hard lockdown to stop or at least slow down the spread of the corona virus.
This is the result of a representative survey by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of SPIEGEL.
The number of new infections every day is still high nationwide despite restrictions.
On Wednesday the number of deaths hit a new high of 590.
The number of corona intensive care patients has also increased significantly.
Merkel is pushing for tightening of the measures
The Chancellor therefore spoke up yesterday in the Bundestag with an urgent appeal.
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She thinks it is right to close the shops after Christmas until at least January 10th and also to minimize teaching in schools.
For this purpose, the holidays should be extended or switched to digital lessons.
Individual federal states have already tightened their measures, especially Saxony and Bavaria.
Several prime ministers want to follow suit.
Almost 74 percent of Germans agree with Merkel, are more or more in favor of a hard lockdown.
21 percent are against it.
The voters of three parties seem to be in agreement: If you group the answers according to voting intention, both Union, SPD and Green supporters mostly want the tougher measures.
The approval values here are over 80 percent.
After all, almost 65 percent of left-wing voters are of a similar opinion.
The supporters of the FDP and AfD see it completely differently: Only 40 percent of the FDP supporters can imagine the closure of the shops.
Of the AfD voters, only 24 percent can warm up for tougher measures.
The evaluation of the age structure shows that the older the respondents, the more decisively the hard lockdown is required.
The priority of the federal and state governments for the second wave of infections was actually clear: schools and daycare centers should remain open at all costs.
Whether that will change after all will depend on a switch between Merkel and the prime ministers, which is expected to take place on Sunday.
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