A Christmas party with loved ones - that was the goal of German politics for a long time.
But high numbers of infections could shake the plans.
A hard lockdown threatens.
The number of
corona cases
in Germany is at a new high.
Politicians and scientists are therefore pushing for another
hard lockdown.
Several federal states have already
withdrawn
easing
on public holidays.
This article is continuously updated.
Update from December 11th, 9.15 a.m.:
Now the
date
of the
Corona summit,
which is
decisive
for the
Christmas days, is set
: next
Sunday (December 13th) the
federal and state governments
want to meet
again.
This is reported by the
picture
, citing information from the state of Baden-Württemberg.
The
President of the Bavarian State Parliament Ilse Aigner (CSU)
had already
indicated
this date on Thursday evening
.
As far as she knows, the heads of state will meet again on Sunday with Chancellor Angela Merkel, she said in the "Rundschau" of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation.
Corona lockdown in Germany: Baden-Württemberg announces tough measures - after Christmas
Update from December 11th, 8:42 a.m.:
The next federal state is closing:
Baden-Württemberg will
go into
lockdown
after Christmas until at least January 10th due to the unchecked increase in corona infections
.
According to the dpa, Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) announced on Friday that, if necessary, a joint solution with the neighboring states of Baden-Württemberg would be sought if a uniform national solution could not be found.
Lockdown in Germany: Müller speaks of three weeks of restrictions around Christmas
Update from December 11, 7:40 a.m.:
The chairman of the Prime Minister's
Conference
,
Michael Müller
(SPD), assumes that there will soon be a
hard lockdown in Germany
- possibly for three weeks.
It is becoming apparent, also in discussions with colleagues from the federal states, “that there will be significant cuts from December 20” and retail will be “significantly” shut down, said Müller on Thursday evening in the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”.
The time comes when it is school holidays, many people no longer go to work and local transport is getting quieter.
Restrictions "between December 20th and January 10th" could "certainly" also lead to the incidence going down.
Even prime ministers, whose countries had low numbers of infections, now said that nationwide there was a
crisis situation
in which one had to show solidarity.
The urgent appeals by Chancellor
Angela Merkel
(CDU) were very helpful here.
The Health Minister of
Thuringia
had already called for further steps on Thursday
(see update from December 10th, 6:28 p.m.)
, now they should come too.
As the State Chancellery announced on Friday morning, a number of
shops will
close
from December 19
, with the exception of grocery stores and shops for basic needs.
The regulation applies, however, subject to the decisions of the next Prime Minister's Conference.
Something should also change in
schools: distance teaching is to be
introduced
for grades one to six
.
This will initially apply on December 21 and 22, 2020 and between January 4 and 10, 2021. The cabinet still wants to advise on possible night curfews.
As the German Press Agency also learned,
Baden-Württemberg
is planning
to start next week, an exact date is still unclear, a night curfew and exit restrictions during the day.
Anyone who leaves the house during the day should only do so with a valid reason, such as for work.
How the state government deals with the subject of schools and shop closings in concrete terms is still to be discussed.
A
press conference is
planned
for 12 noon on Friday
.
+
The sign "closed" hangs in the door of a shop.
Will shops in even more federal states close soon?
© Oliver Berg / dpa
Hard lockdown in Germany: Thuringia and Schleswig-Holstein are making demands
Update from December 10th, 6:28 p.m.:
The number of
infections
is
too high
almost everywhere in
Germany
.
Now
Thuringia
also wants
a harder
lockdown
.
Health Minister Heike Werner (left) spoke of a worrying situation in the Free State.
"The lockdown light did not lead to a significant decrease in the number of infections." Obviously, a bigger step is needed to break the wave of infections.
"We now have to discuss the right time and the right accompanying measures for a
lockdown
at short notice
," she announced.
This would primarily affect
kindergartens, schools and retailers
, where there must be corresponding compensation payments.
Update of 10 December, 17:58:
Even
Daniel Günther (CDU), Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein
, is now demanding a hard
lockdown
before
Christmas
.
He also wants to campaign for this at the next
Corona summit
with the Prime Minister and Chancellor Merkel.
He assumes that this conference will take place on Sunday.
Careful towards Christmas lockdown?
Söders right hand expresses itself tellingly - "Virus does not follow the church year"
First report from December 10, 2020:
Munich - For a long time it looked as if
a Christmas with friends and family would be possible
despite
Corona
.
The
partial lockdown
decided at the beginning of November
should enable a normal Christmas party in the family under the given circumstances.
But the steadily increasing
number
of
corona cases
last week has now
triggered
a new debate about tougher measures on the
holidays
.
Voices from politics and science are increasingly pressing for
tightening of
the measures.
Corona measures at Christmas: CSU politician Dobrindt defends easing
Although, according to the
ZDF
"Politbarometer", almost every second German is in favor of stricter rules in the fight against the corona virus, CSU regional group leader
Alexander Dobrindt
defended
the relaxation of contacts over Christmas.
Despite the persistently high number of
infections
, the
CSU politician
said
on Thursday on
ARD
- “Morgenmagazin”: “It remains that you
have to have the chance to meet
at
Christmas
”.
Instead of
restricting
contacts
,
Dobrindt
wants to
advocate increased security measures, such as
distance teaching
in schools, to enable a
Christmas
with the family.
Many politicians against easing at Christmas due to the increasing number of corona cases
With this view,
Dobrindt is
now pretty much alone in his own party.
On Thursday, the Bavarian State Chancellery
Florian Hermann
(CSU)
spoke out in
favor of stronger
restrictions
.
Hermann
- in a sense Markus Söder's right hand - justified this with 4983 new infections within one day.
The numbers in
Bavaria are
high
too high.
He warned of an impending overload of the
health system
.
It is therefore advisable to limit contacts - even at
Christmas
.
"This virus follows neither the church year nor our personal plans," warned Hermann.
Hermann is
striking in the same direction as many other Union politicians in the past few days.
Vice-CDU Bundeschef and Baden-Württemberg Interior Minister
Thomas Strobl
warned that the previous measures had not had the necessary effect.
Strobl is therefore of the opinion that only a
hard lockdown
can calm the infection process.
“As sad and drastic as it is for the population: That is why we will hardly be able to avoid more decisive measures in hotspots and in the area.
It's about
human life
and it's about the
health of
many people, ”appeals Strobl.
RKI and Ciesek speak out against corona easing at Christmas
It can not go on like this.
Protect yourself and those around you!
Now!
The virus doesn't care about Christmas or our traditions.
And it won't give us any presents either.
https://t.co/S4kbxGUfNo
- Sandra Ciesek (@CiesekSandra) December 10, 2020
Sandra Ciesek
, Director of the Institute for Medical Virology at the University Hospital Frankfurt, took the new
highs
as an opportunity to make an emotional
appeal
to the population.
On Twitter she warned, “The virus is not interested in
Christmas
or our
traditions
.
And it won't give us any presents. "
The President of the
Robert Koch Institute also
speaks out against
easing
the corona measures over the
holidays
.
I think the important measure is to
really prevent
the easing over Christmas,
”said
Lothar Wieler
on Thursday.
He pointed out that such loosening would make the infection process
dynamic
that is
difficult to control
.
In the first federal states, such as Thuringia, the planned easing over the
Christmas holidays has
already been withdrawn.
Jewish community is already celebrating Hanukkah under Corona conditions
While appropriate
Corona measures
for Christmas are still being discussed, the Jewish community in Germany will be celebrating the eight-day
Hanukkah festival of
lights from Thursday under strict contact
restrictions
.
The celebrations will take place this year on the condition that no more than
five people from two households
are allowed to come together.
“It's a
restriction,
” says Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
In addition, it was a "certain unequal treatment," he said with a view to the political plans for
Christmas
.
In view of the high number of infections, however, it is absolutely the
right way to go
.
(phf) dpa
List of rubric lists: © Oliver Berg / dpa