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Merkel's Corona summit: First details about mega lockdown seep through - Scholz names a likely period

2021-01-19T12:25:49.253Z


Several politicians are calling for a tightening of the lockdown: After Foreign Minister Maas rushed forward with a proposal to corona-vaccinated, the first details leaked out before the federal-state meeting.


Several politicians are calling for a tightening of the lockdown: After Foreign Minister Maas rushed forward with a proposal to corona-vaccinated, the first details leaked out before the federal-state meeting.

  • The federal-state consultations with

    Chancellor Merkel

    * (CDU *) have

    been brought forward to

    January 19

    .

  • The reason for this is the continued high number of

    corona cases *

    and a threatening

    virus mutation

    *.

  • Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz names a probable period for the lockdown extension

    (see update from January 18, 6.53 a.m.).

  • This

    news ticker

    is updated regularly.

This news ticker has ended.

From now on we will inform you in this text about all important developments around the Corona summit.

Update from January 18, 4.30 p.m.:

Numerous political voices are in favor of

extending the corona lockdown

.

On Tuesday the

federal and state governments will

meet

for deliberations

.

“It is clear that we have to extend the existing protective measures.

Whether there has to be further tightening depends for me on the findings of the scientists, "said Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister

Manuela Schwesig

(SPD).

According to the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister

Malu Dreyer

(SPD), the SPD bosses want to

propose an extension of the measures until February 14

at the

Corona summit

.

One can imagine this if, at the same time, “economic aid comes faster,” says Dreyer.

Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister

Daniel Günther

(CDU) also wants a lockdown extension and emphasizes that he sees

potential for

improvement in terms of home office execution

.

"That would also have a further relief effect for local public transport and in all areas where it is difficult to keep your distance."

The subject of binding

home office regulations

is expected to be a big topic tomorrow.

Labor Minister

Hubertus Heil

(SPD) commented on this as follows: "I am in favor of making this more binding with regard to the question of the offer." Such a regulation is apparently already in the works.

It is about areas in which home office is possible.

"If we come to a political agreement tomorrow, I will immediately implement it by means of a statutory order."

Extension of the corona lockdown in Germany: Markus Söder speaks up

Update from January 18, 2:50 p.m .:

"We have to extend the lockdown until mid-February," said

CSU boss Markus Söder

to

Münchner Merkur *

before the Prime Minister's consultations with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).

For Bavaria, the Prime Minister reveals, no further tightening is planned.

The other federal states should however follow the example of strict lockdown rules in Bavaria, demands Söder.

Update from January 18, 2:34 p.m.:

An extension of the

corona lockdown in Germany

is up for debate, says government spokesman Steffen Seibert in the federal press

conference

on Monday.

Just one day before the Corona summit between Chancellor

Angela Merkel (CDU)

and the Prime Minister, the thrust seems to have been officially established.

Although the infection rate in Germany is currently easing, Seibert said.

In the justification, the government spokesman refers to the coronavirus mutation B.1.1.7.

In other countries you have already seen how the curve of the number of infections has risen rapidly.

One wants to prevent such a development.

Merkel's Corona summit: First details about mega lockdown seep through - Scholz names a likely period

Update from January 18, 1:30 p.m .:

"It's less about tightening through additional measures than about tightening through more consistent application," said SPD leader

Norbert Walter-Borjans

.

"The numbers have not decreased so much that we can speak of a control again," added SPD leader

Saskia Esken

.

At a meeting of the Presidium, both emphasized that the main thing now must be to better implement existing measures.

"We need more

home offices

, not sometime, but now," says Esken.

“At the moment, only 15 percent of employees work from home; in the first wave, we had 27 percent.

So you can see that much more is possible, ”said the SPD leader.

At workplaces where this is not possible,

corona tests

should be carried out

at least

once a week

and

masks should also be

worn

at the workplace

.

A return of the schools to regular operation is not conceivable for now.

Update from January 18, 1:18 p.m .:

Federal Health

Minister Jens Spahn

sees "first successes"

in reducing the number of corona infections.

However, he sees no reason for relaxation, said Spahn on Monday in the ARD.

The point is to hold out "another two to three weeks".

Before the start of the

Corona summit between the federal and state governments

, Spahn confirmed that curfews were "obviously part of the debate".

However, there is already resistance to a uniform nationwide rule

(see previous update)

.

Lower Saxony Prime Minister Weil on exit restrictions: "Not justified"

Update from January 18, 12:57 pm:

"In all of Lower Saxony we are now at an incidence of just under a hundred," said Lower Saxony's Prime Minister

Stephan Weil

(SPD) of the

Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung

.

Against this background, he considers a nationwide night-time exit restriction "not justified".

Such a measure can only be justified in cities and districts with a massive infection process - with reference to an incidence of 200 new corona infection cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days as a threshold.

Update from January 18, 11:07 a.m.:

The

state government of Lower Saxony

has

spoken

out in favor of

extending the corona lockdown

until mid-February.

State Secretary Jörg Mielke further announced in a special meeting of the Social Affairs Committee: “We will not propose any tightening of the contact restrictions.” He added: “We have noticed that we are about to tighten the screws too tightly.” A night curfew also found no support the state.

Robert Koch Institute: glitch with reported corona numbers for Monday

Update from January 18, 11

a.m .

:

Breakdown at the RKI.

As the picture

reports,

citing a spokeswoman for the

Robert Koch Institute

, the

corona numbers

for Germany

reported on Monday

(see previous update) are

apparently incorrect.

According to the spokeswoman, it is currently being checked what the reason for the few reports from

Bavaria 

or 

Rhineland-Palatinate

 ,

for example 

- the federal state of

Schleswig-Holstein also reported strikingly low numbers.

Update from January 18, 10.30 a.m.:

The current figures from the

Robert Koch Institute

on Monday are surprising.

The German health authorities

 reported

7141 new corona infections

to

the RKI 

within one day - according to the institute, the lowest value since October 20.

214 new corona deaths have been

recorded

in the past 24 hours  

-

this value has not been so low since December 14th.

However, after the weekend, the number of cases is usually lower because less testing is carried out during this period.

Lockdown extension in Germany: Olaf Scholz for further measures in pandemic

Update from January 18, 6.53 a.m .:

“Further measures must be taken”, said Vice Chancellor

Olaf Scholz

on Sunday evening in the

picture

talk “The right questions”.

“I assume that it can be 14 days that will come again.” On the subject of

curfews

(

see update from January 17, 6:37 pm)

Scholz said: “I think this is a possible measure, but not The one who is the very first. ”Scholz also announced the increase in financial aid for companies that are closed due to the

corona pandemic

.

“I am determined to ensure, together with my colleague Altmaier, that we make the

economic

aid

that we

have designed for this year even more generous.” The Finance Minister also announced aid “for retailers, the seasonal goods to have".

Economy Minister

Peter Altmaier

spoke out in favor of combining several other corona measures.

"What we can least afford economically is the intensification of the pandemic," said Altmaier of the

Rheinische Post.

He warned of the spread of mutated forms of the

coronavirus

.

At the federal-state meeting, the course would have to be set in such a way “that we can finally break the wave of infections in the next few weeks and prevent the dynamic from rising again until Easter,” said the minister.

However, that does not mean that the economy has to shut down.

"There is a selection of options on the table, from the home office requirement to the

FFP2 mask requirement

in rail traffic to clearer contact

restrictions or curfews,

" said Altmaier.

Bavaria's Prime Minister

Markus Söder

continues to urge a consistent implementation of the jointly made resolutions.

"Half of the countries do something completely different," said the CSU boss on Sunday evening on the ARD talk show "Anne Will".

That is why the question arises again and again: "Why do we decide something when half do it differently?"

Lockdown extension: FDP calls for a special session in the Bundestag

Update from January 17, 9:06 p.m.:

Both the extension and the tightening of the

lockdown

seem inevitable - first details about the plans of the

Chancellor

and the

Prime Minister

have already leaked (see update from January 17, 6:37 p.m.).

The vehement demand for tightening - among other things,

Karl Lauterbach (SPD) called for

a "really hard lockdown" - has now criticized the

FDP

.

"We need a

special session of the Bundestag

because the parliament has to debate extensive restrictions on freedom," said

Christian Lindner

on Sunday in Berlin.

They

want

from

Angela Merkel (CDU)

know which data are based on and whether milder means would be considered, so the

FDP boss Lindner.

According to a report by the

Rheinische Post

, the

FDP has

therefore already

asked

the parliamentary group leaders - with the exception of the

AfD

- for their support by letter.

His party colleague

Wolfgang Kubicki also

called on the newspapers of the

Funke media group

on Sunday to

"use alternative measures to strike a balance between health protection and the freedom to enjoy".

"A few days ago it was said that the numbers from the

RKI

were still not meaningful for some time because of the holidays, now despite falling numbers and increasing intensive capacities, there is talk of tightening," said

Bundestag Vice-President Kubicki

.

If you believe the report by the

Rheinische Post

, the Union

parliamentary group has

already rejected

the

FDP's

demand

- the

Liberals

would, however, need at least a third of the

votes in

order to be able to convene

the desired

special session

.

While the

Greens

did not agree to support

the FDP

either, the

left-wing parliamentary group

declared

the proposal for a special session to be “justified”.

The federal and state governments are apparently planning a nationwide curfew

Update January 17, 18:37:

The

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU)

wants to meet again on Tuesday (January 19th) with the country leaders to - earlier than planned - on how to proceed in the

Corona-crisis

talk .

If you believe a report by the

business magazine Business Insider

, the federal and state governments are apparently planning to

introduce

a

night curfew

nationwide

.

The magazine relies on information from government circles, according to which it is only open from when to when such a

curfew

should apply.

In addition, it is still being negotiated whether it should only come into force from a certain incidence.

The magazine also claims to have learned that another requirement is under discussion: As it will be

mandatory

from Monday in

Bavaria

,

only

FFP2 masks

should be worn

when

shopping

and in

public transport

.

If necessary, the Chancellery only wants

to introduce

the simpler

surgical masks

as mandatory, as these are also of higher quality than so-called community masks.

Business Insider also

reports on a “kind of

home office duty light

” for companies, businesses and administrations.

Offices

have

long been

criticized

as possible

sources of corona contagion

- now the

Chancellery

apparently

wants to

follow up its appeals and

demand

home office offers

- where possible - as a "must".

According to the report,

schools

and daycare centers are to remain largely closed, but

bus and train traffic

will continue.

Ministry of Health firmly rejects Maas proposal

Update from January 17th, 1:51 pm

: "As long as it is not clear whether a vaccinated

person

can transmit the virus, there can be no exceptions": With this announcement, the Ministry of Health responded to a move by Foreign Minister

Heiko Maas (SPD)

.

Who had

corona restriction exceptions Vaccinated

required

(see today's update of 7:25)

.

“Interventions in civil liberties must always be well founded,” said a spokesman for the

ministry led

by

Jens Spahn (CDU)

at the request of the

dpa.

Fines and forced induction: According to the report, countries want to take more stringent action against quarantine breakers

Update from January 17, 12:19 p.m

.: Anyone who

repeatedly refuses

the

Corona quarantine

should be hit hard in the future - at least according to the will of several federal states, as reported by

Welt am Sonntag

(WamS)

.

The following tightening are therefore being considered:

  • Heavy

    fines

  • Partly a

    "dangerous speech" by

    the police

  • In extreme cases:

    forced admission

    (to central collection points such as clinics or youth detention centers)

This is already being done in individual cases on the basis of judicial instructions.

According to the report, there will soon be such facilities

in

Baden-Württemberg

.

"These segregation places are permanently monitored by a security service,"

the newspaper quoted a state social ministry spokesman as saying.

Two clinics have been selected for this.

Quarantine refusers in the corona crisis: Bavaria relies on "emphatic instruction"

Also,

Brandenburg

and

Saxony

want loud

WamS

keep quarantine breakers, also in

Berlin

and

Hamburg

do not exclude you from the thought.

Schleswig-Holstein

wanted to accommodate quarantine breakers in the coming weeks on the grounds of the Moltsfelde youth detention center, it said, citing the district council.

Prior to this, there is usually a

"dangerous speech"

with the participation of the police

as a warning

.

In Hesse,

however

, according to the report, such a facility

has been closed again

due to

low demand

.

How is it in

Bavaria

?

The local health ministry announced, according to

Bild am Sonntag (BamS)

, that it is mostly possible to get citizens

to give in “by giving them

explicit instructions”

and by pointing out “compulsory segregation and fines”.

The last resort was compulsory admissions to local authorities, for example in “closed hospitals or closed parts of hospitals”.

Before federal-state consultations: Federation of cities and municipalities warns of a strict corona lockdown

Update from January 17th, 9:57 am

: The often requested

“mega lockdown”

* also calls the German Association of Towns and Municipalities onto the scene.

It was "not a solution and could

endanger

the indispensable

acceptance of the people

for the numerous measures," said General Manager Gerd Landsberg to the

Funke media group

newspapers (the issue will appear on Monday, one day before the new federal-state consultations with Chancellor

Angela Merkel

*).

A

lockdown extension

is necessary because of the RKI numbers, but Landsberg rejected a general closure of

schools

and

daycare centers

.

At least there should be emergency care.

He pleaded that only visitors with negative

corona rapid tests should be allowed

in

nursing homes and old people's homes

- but also sees a difficulty in this: "For this we need

additional volunteers

in these facilities

who carry out the test procedures on site (...)."

In addition, a nationwide campaign should

increase

the

willingness to vaccinate

in the population, Landsberg said.

Before the Corona summit, however, a

curfew

and

obligation to work from home will be

discussed more

intensely than this proposal

.

Corona in Germany: Maas calls for freedom such as going to the cinema and restaurants for vaccinated people

Update January 17, 07:25:

On Tuesday (January 19) of early next will be

prime minister summit

with

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

held in which a premature

extension

and possibly

tightening

the pressure prevailing in Germany hard

lockdown

is to be decided.

Due to the current

corona infection situation

in Germany, it

is already

clear that there will be no

easing of

the applicable measures anytime

soon

.

There are still tens of thousands of

new infections

every day

, the

seven-day incidence

in Germany is far from the federal government's target of 50.

The question arises again and again whether people who have already been vaccinated

should be given

special rights

, as they no longer pose a risk to the population.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and large parts of her government, such as

Health Minister Jens Spahn,

had so far vehemently rejected this request.

Corona summit: Maas demands special rights for vaccinated people

Now, however,

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD

)

rushes

forward and demands exactly that. In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Maas said: “People who have been vaccinated should be able

to exercise

their

basic rights

again

”.

According to Maas, it is misleading to speak of privileges, because a visit to a restaurant is not a

privilege

but a fundamental right.

The current

corona measures

have severely restricted people's basic rights.

It is therefore logical to give them back to people who no

longer

pose a

threat

to others.

Regarding the concerns of

Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU),

who had warned against a split in society in the event of

easing

for vaccinated people, Maas said: “Yes, this will also lead to

inequalities

in a transition period

, but as long as there is an objective reason for it , that is

constitutionally

justifiable. "

Maas calls for special rights for vaccinated people: "Constitutionally justifiable"

“It has not yet been finally clarified to what extent people who have been

vaccinated

can infect others.

But what is clear: a vaccinated person will no longer take a

ventilator

away from someone.

This means that at least one central reason for restricting fundamental rights is no longer applicable, ”said Maas.

It

is currently unclear

whether the federal government will

debate

freedoms

for vaccinated people

again at another point in time

.

As of Saturday (January 16), over a million people in Germany

had been vaccinated

against the

corona

virus.

Update from January 16, 8:10 p.m.:

The new

CDU chief

and North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister

Armin Laschet

said in a conversation with

Bild

on Saturday evening

: "If the numbers go down, I'll be the first to say we have to lift restrictions again . "

However, he announced a

tightening of the lockdown

in view of the

Corona summit

next week

.

"I believe that we will have to take measures again in the next week to prevent an explosive increase from occurring," said

Laschet

.

Before that, on the ZDF program “Was now?”, He pointed out the angry, probably more contagious

virus mutation

in Great Britain

about which too little is known so far.

+

The new CDU boss Armin Laschet announces a tightening of the lockdown for the Corona summit.

© picture alliance / dpa |

Michael Kappeler

Corona summit: Günther doesn't just want to talk about tightening the lockdown

Update from January 16, 6:37 p.m.:

From the point of view of

Schleswig-Holstein's

Prime Minister

Daniel Günther (CDU)

, the

Corona summit

should not only be about which tightening may be necessary.

The CDU politician said on Saturday in an interview with the TV broadcaster

Phoenix

.

"We also have to describe what that means in the months of February, March, April, when certain

incidence

values ​​are

fallen

below, which areas can we then reopen permanently."

Günther

explained that the new

virus variant

must of

course also be dealt with

and whether the

measures were

sufficient.

However, it was found that even more stringent restrictions had an effect.

"The number of infections is falling in many countries." The

7-day incidence

in Schleswig-Holstein is now 85. This is still far from the target value of 50, but there is still a little time until the end of the month, so Günther.

Lockdown tightening in Germany?

Merkel drove into the parade

First report from January 16:

Berlin - Before the next

Corona summit

with Federal Chancellor

Angela Merkel (CDU)

there is apparently resentment among some country leaders.

“The mutation worries us all very much.

We need

a consultation with the scientists

on Monday

.

On this basis, we have to make further decisions on Tuesday, "said Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister

Manuela Schwesig (SPD) of

the

picture

- and according to the article means those experts who also advise Merkel.

Bild

wants to know: "Some SPD states are demanding more figures and data on the current Corona situation in order to make such a far-reaching decision."

Lockdown tightening in Germany?

"Better to be right now" (Brinkhaus)

The line of argument: The

RKI *

figures are currently less meaningful because of the holidays - and there is no information about the spread and danger of the corona mutations from Great Britain and South Africa *.

+

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) wants to consult scientists before the Corona summit.

© Jens Büttner / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa

Sounds like it could crunch in the round next Tuesday.

Because, for example, Union

parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU) has

now pleaded for a comprehensive expansion of the corona restrictions.

"Better to be right now - instead of an endless loop into the summer,"

the

Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (NOZ)

quotes him

in its Saturday edition.

"In particular, the high infection rate of the new mutation worries us very much."

Before the Merkel-Corona summit: Brinkhaus brings public transport shutdown into play

And in the

WDR show

“Current Hour”, Brinkhaus replied on Friday to the question of whether a

night-time exit

restriction should

be discussed

during the deliberations

: “Yes, everything has to be put on the table.” He also said on RTL / ntv: “We have to talk to industry and business again to

see

whether all the capacities for mobile work in the

home office

are being used.

We will also have to look again whether the

local transport is

not switched off or at least organized in such a way that there are not so many people in a bus or in a wagon. "

In view of the again partly different state regulations after the last federal-state consultation on January 5th, Brinkhaus added in the

NOZ

: “And I expect that the things that are decided at the Prime Minister

's Conference

in Berlin will be one at home in the state capitals implemented and consistently followed up. ”(dpa / AFP / frs)

* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital editorial network.

List of rubric lists: © Kay Nietfeld

Source: merkur

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