Disagreement before Corona summit: Some country leaders see hope for easing - Söder remains tough

It will certainly not be easy on Wednesday: the next Corona summit is coming up.

But the countries sometimes have very different ideas about how to proceed.

• The next round is on: On February 10, the federal and state governments will discuss the corona situation.

• Several step-by-step plans, concepts and ideas serve as a basis for discussion.

• But for this reason too, opinions about how to proceed differ a lot.

Berlin - Corona warning and easing advocates are facing each other - due to the falling number of cases and simultaneous concern about the spread of mutations.

During past Corona summits, this gap was also noticeable among the federal and state heads.

What will it be like for the next meeting on Wednesday (February 10th)?

Chancellor Angela Merkels * (CDU) direction is clear: it is better to stay cautious, just no massive openings.

In the ARD interview last week, she asked citizens "to hold out for a while".

There are currently many signs that the lockdown will be extended beyond February 14 - possibly at least until the end of the month.

However, at the last conference, the governments agreed to develop so-called step-by-step plans that prescribe certain measures depending on the incidence and possibly other factors.

Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, who then submitted such a plan, now insist on sticking to it.

Nationally uniform plans should ideally follow.

Thuringia is now also joining this, where a plan has also been worked out that is still to be discussed in the state parliament.

Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) * does not believe that there will be "relevant opening steps" in Germany very soon.

But one has to discuss “according to which rules a nationwide easing phase would be initiated”, he said in an interview with the news portal t-online.

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Angela Merkel (M, CDU), Markus Söder (l, CSU), Prime Minister of Bavaria and CSU Chairman, and Peter Tschentscher (SPD), First Mayor of Hamburg, give a press conference.

(Archive)

© Kay Nietfeld / dpa

Corona lockdown in Germany: Söder is critical of the step-by-step plan

However, some states, including Bavaria, are critical of a step-by-step plan.

According to Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), drafts scheduled for the day may not be sustainable.

In general: "I strongly advise that we do not rush anything," he said on Sunday in the "Report from Berlin".

He wants to develop a perspective, but the top priority must remain security.

“In principle, I think the lockdown will first have to be extended, there is no point in discussing it now,” Söder continued.

Otherwise you might end up in the situation of having to close again soon because of increasing numbers, which does not promote acceptance in society.

After all, Söder held out the prospect of talking to the heads of government about possible easing in the video link.

"How exactly has to be discussed," said Söder.

The regional differentiation of the situation must be reflected, according to Söder, priority is given to young children.

"But one after the other, piece by piece," emphasized Söder.

Instead, the Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer (CDU) *, made it clear that he believes the easing of the policy to be justified.

The state was hit particularly hard in the second corona wave and therefore imposed strict measures comparatively early.

But Kretschmer makes one restriction with regard to the openings: "If the steps are manageable and we have a social understanding that less public life is necessary again as the number of infections increases," as he

told

the

Leipziger Volkszeitung

.

First openings in the corona lockdown?

Educational institutions and hairdressers are taking center stage

Again and again, hairdressers play a role in the openings.

Kretschmer lists them as an example.

But also the Prime Minister from Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff (CDU), already spoke in the

Tagesspiegel

at the end of January

about reopening hairdressers after February 14th: “We have to see that many indispensable services are possible again, also in the Sense of the people employed there. "

Daycare centers and primary schools seem to have the greatest chances of easing.

In a way, the election campaigns that are running in Rhineland-Palatinate * and Baden-Württemberg * also play a role.

Many parents reach their limits, homeschooling leads to many problems for the children.

Some Prime Ministers also emphasize this again and again.

On the subject of education, there have recently been slight deviations from the resolutions of the Prime Minister's Conference.

Uniformity?

Here, too, negative results.

"Before we open any business or something else, education for our children must be restarted, because with the lockdown we also cause damage," said NRW Prime Minister Laschet (CDU) at the weekend.

For Chancellor Merkel, daycare centers and schools are the areas that should be reopened first.

Corona lockdown: what works where and how well?

Better monitoring required

But here, too, there is a contrary opinion.

CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt advised

caution

in an interview with

Münchner Merkur

: "If you are discussing the order of loosening mechanisms, the school does not necessarily have to be at the beginning." does not represent an insignificant risk. "

On Tuesday, Education Minister Anja Karliczek presented recommendations to reduce the risk of infection when the school is open and to enable the safest, regulated and continuous school operation possible during pandemic times.

In addition to the step-by-step plans, the heads of government can also discuss this draft on Wednesday.

What, according to some experts and the opposition, would also help would be better monitoring of the measures.

It is still not entirely clear at which places in everyday life a particularly large number of people are infected with corona.

The effectiveness of various measures has also not been conclusively clarified.

"These failures make a longer, more general lockdown necessary," says several Green * politicians in a paper that is available to the

Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung

.

In times of crisis, it has been proven to pull together.

That creates trust.

Cornelia Betsch, health communication professor, writes on Twitter: “A uniform strategy with common goals and 'rewards' can also reduce stress.” At the moment, however, it looks more like inconsistencies.

(cibo / dpa) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network.

List of rubric lists: © Kay Nietfeld / dpa