Labor Minister Heil (SPD) calls for a surcharge for Hartz IV recipients.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) addresses families.
The latest developments in our news ticker.
The
Corona *
lockdown has
been
extended
in
Germany
.
The
restrictions
apply until mid-February.
Labor Minister
Hubertus Heil (SPD)
has called for a
corona surcharge
for Hartz IV recipients.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU)
addressed families in her video podcast.
Update from Saturday, January 30th, 2021, 1:20 p.m.:
In her video podcast from Saturday (January 30th, 2021)
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU)
addressed families.
It
had been a particularly tough year for children and families.
Merkel
described the stresses and strains on families as a "tremendous show of strength".
Everyone in the federal government is aware of how tough everyday life is for parents and children at the moment.
Nobody underestimates this.
Merkel was
sympathetic to the
fact that apartments are currently a playground, classroom and workplace in one
.
You need "good nerves".
+
Angela Merkel addressed families in her video podcast from Saturday (January 30th, 2021).
© Dorothée Barth / afp
Corona pandemic: Merkel speaks to families in a video podcast
Nevertheless,
Merkel
warned of the highly contagious
variants of the coronavirus from Great Britain and South Africa
, which is why schools and daycare centers cannot yet be reopened.
But everything is done to be able to reopen quickly and to give back “children a piece of their usual everyday life”.
Merkel also
wants to continue to seek dialogue in digital citizens' dialogues in order
to understand
people's problems in the
corona pandemic
.
To support
children and families in the corona pandemic
, a number of measures have been initiated, including the economic stimulus package with a child bonus, an increase in child benefit and the doubling of the children's sick days.
Update from Friday, January 29th, 2021, 7:59 a.m.:
Those who live on Hartz IV should in future
receive
vouchers for
FFP2 masks
from the federal government
,
as it was decided on Thursday (
January 28th, 2021
).
Now Federal Labor
Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) has called for
a
corona surcharge
for Hartz IV recipients.
“People in need are particularly hard hit by the long-term measures,” he emphasized.
In addition to free masks, financial help is needed because social institutions and social department stores are closed.
The CSU social expert Stephan Stracke rejected
salvation's
proposal.
The standard rates were only increased at the turn of the year.
It
is undisputed
that recipients of
Hartz IV
or social assistance now have an additional need.
However, this can be covered with the free FFP2 masks.
Update from Friday, January 29th, 2021, 7:26 am:
In addition to the
corona vaccines from
the Mainz company
Biontech
and the US company
Moderna
, a third vaccine from the manufacturer
Astrazeneca
could soon be
approved.
Today the European Medicines Agency's Committee on Medicinal Products for Human Use will examine the Swedish-British manufacturer's application for approval.
If the latter gives his approval, the
vaccine
should be approved
very soon.
The Federal Government and the EU are currently
in dispute
with
Astrazeneca
about the timing and amount of
vaccine delivery
.
According to its own statements, the manufacturer can initially only deliver less than half of the agreed quantity.
The reason are bottlenecks in a Belgian plant.
The EU increased the pressure on
Astrazeneca
- so far unsuccessfully.
+
If you start your new job from home, you will find one or the other hurdle, both technical and human.
© picture alliance / dpa / Sebastian Gollnow
Corona crisis: New home office regulations come into force
Update from Wednesday, January 27th, 2021, 8 a.m.:
More employees than before should
work at home
from this Wednesday due to the
Corona crisis
.
With new requirements employers to offer their employees, in some cases working in the
home office
to offer.
"Those who can work at home", that is the goal of the new regulation, said SPD parliamentary deputy Katja Mast.
"After we have already massively shut down our private encounters, it is now about professional contacts."
Office
jobs in
particular
should be done from home, demanded Mast.
At the same time, she is confident "that tough controls are not needed," she told the German press agency.
“A lot is regulated by exemplary behavior and looking at one another together.
This applies equally to professional and private life. "
Compliance with the
ordinance
is to be monitored by the health and safety authorities of the federal states.
According to Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD), the employer must provide reasons why home office is not possible at the request of the authorities.
In the “greatest emergency”, fines of theoretically up to 30,000 euros are also possible.
Burdens from the corona crisis: debt brake should be suspended
Update from Tuesday, January 26th, 2021, 10.15 a.m.: In
view of the
Corona crisis,
Chancellor Helge Braun is calling for
the
debt brake
to be
suspended
for a longer period of time.
The
CDU
politician
said this
in a guest article in the newspaper "Handelsblatt".
In the coming years, the
debt brake will
not be adhered to despite strict spending discipline.
Social contributions should be stabilized by the end of 2023.
Braun rejects tax increases up to this point.
The federal government is currently using
an exception
to suspend the
debt brake
, which is actually intended for natural disasters.
Instead, according to Braun, the recovery strategy for the German economy should be combined with an amendment to the Basic Law that will allow higher new borrowing for the coming years.
+
Helge Braun, Head of the Federal Chancellery, in conversation with Hubertus Heil, Federal Minister for Labor and Social Affairs.
(Archive image)
© Florian Gaertner / imago-images
Corona lockdown: first school openings possible at the beginning of February
First
report
from
January 25th
, 2021
:
Frankfurt - Apparently the first school
openings are
already conceivable from the beginning of February 2021.
At least that's what Britta Ernst (SPD) says.
She is chairwoman of the conference of ministers of education and education minister of Brandenburg.
"Certainly not completely,"
emphasizes Ernst and adds: "But I think that if there is a corresponding
infection
situation, for example with alternating lessons," Ernst told the "Rheinische Post".
In the beginning, however, this could only apply to final grades and the first grades, she explains.
Teaching at a distance is particularly harmful to primary school students.
Corona lockdown: schools open in early February?
The infection situation on site must be in the foreground.
"No country should have to wait for another to open its schools," said the 59-year-old.
+
The chairperson of the Standing Conference can envision school opening at the beginning of February 2021.
(Archive photo)
© Sven Hoppe / dpa
After all, this is presented very differently: “I think it's right when the federal states make different use of the leeway that resolutions offer them.” (Tu)
* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network.
List of rubric lists: © Dorothée Barth / afp