Instead of looking forward to Easter vacation, Saxony's Prime Minister Kretschmer and others are warning of the third wave of corona.
Schleswig-Holstein wants to keep the timetable.
Update from February 15, 1:22 p.m.:
While many are extremely critical of a possible Easter holiday because of the still high corona numbers and the risk of mutations (see first report), there are also more optimistic voices.
Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) thinks traveling at Easter is realistic.
"With us in Germany I see the possibility that we will make domestic tourism possible up to this point," said Günther on Monday in Kiel.
“And the most important thing from my point of view is: Easter is still seven weeks away, and today it is definitely wrong to cancel holidays regardless of the incidence.” He assesses the situation more optimistically than others.
The federal and state governments have agreed to include restaurants and hotels in the next steps.
“And at the present time I don't see anything that speaks against continuing to work on this goal.” Of course, testing and dealing with areas in which there are a relatively high number of corona cases must also be discussed.
"But I definitely see a perspective for tourism from Easter."
Easter holiday: Federal government does not want to commit itself - but promises "another festival than Easter 2020"
The federal government, unlike Saxony's Prime Minister Kretschmer, does not yet want to commit itself on the question of possible easing of the corona rules at Easter at this point in time.
There is “a lot to suggest that we are now waiting for the next few weeks to develop and then assessing which easing is possible at what point in time,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert.
At the same time, he emphasized that the federal government is "working to ensure that Easter 2021 will be a different festival than Easter 2020."
There is currently a situation that is developing positively in many respects, said Seibert, with a view to the decline in new infections and the number of intensive care treatments.
The high number of deaths is finally going back cautiously.
“But this situation is still uncertain,” he emphasized.
The mutations represent a real danger, the widespread spread of which in Germany must be prevented.
No Easter vacation because of Corona?
Hotel Association finds Kretschmer's initiative "completely unacceptable"
Update from February 15, 12.25 p.m.:
Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) and Karl Lauterbach see no chance for an Easter holiday because of the corona pandemic.
The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) has now reacted indignantly to this announcement.
With such statements, Kretschmer caused uncertainty and existential hardships, said Dehoga managing director Ingrid Hartges on Monday in the show "Frühstart" on TV channels RTL and ntv.
This was "completely unacceptable", especially after the hotel and catering industry was not even mentioned at the last Corona summit of the Chancellor and the Prime Minister.
Kretschmer's considerations are also "legally questionable," added Hartges.
She reported that the mood in the hotel and restaurant industry has been "aggressive and insecure" since the Prime Minister's Conference last Wednesday.
There is a “brutal existential concern”.
Easter vacation despite Corona?
"Would destroy everything" - regional leaders and Lauterbach with a bitter outlook
Update from February 14th, 10:14 pm:
The discussion about the Easter holidays this year has flared up.
Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) sees no chance for such vacation trips
(see first report)
.
The SPD politician Karl Lauterbach also agrees: "I do not assume that we can take an Easter holiday this year," he told the
world
.
The time would have to be used to avert the still threatening third corona wave with dangerous mutations.
Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) takes a similar line.
"Tourist trips, day trips, and any unnecessary trip should now be avoided," he also told the newspaper.
The Schleswig-Holstein Prime Minister Daniel Günther, on the other hand, does not see the Easter holiday in jeopardy so far: At the last Prime Minister's Conference, a clear timetable was agreed to develop an opening strategy for the areas of gastronomy and accommodation.
“I don't believe in questioning this not even a week later,” said the CDU politician.
"Our goal must be to be able to experience a different Easter than last year."
Again no Easter vacation because of Corona?
Saxony's Prime Minister positions himself
First report from February 14th, 8.39 a.m .:
Dresden - "Unfortunately, there can be no this year": Because of Corona *, Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer has ruled out Easter holidays in Germany *.
"We would destroy everything that we have achieved since mid-December," said the CDU * politician of
Bild am Sonntag (BamS)
.
“I am in favor of speaking truths,” he said.
"Too much mobility, for example through travel and tourism, in April is poison."
Tourism in April is poison
Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU)
Corona in Germany: Country chief warns of third wave and hard lockdown in spring
A return to "normality" like last autumn would lead to an "explosion in the number of infections" like in November and December, said Kretschmer.
The result would be a tough lockdown * in spring.
"We absolutely have to avoid that."
Loosening must be done carefully and step by step, said Kretschmer.
“Restaurants and hotels in Saxony will also have to be closed over Easter.
Play operations in opera houses and theaters can only resume after Easter at the earliest.
The experience of the past months shows: "The smallest changes in the behavior of the population, for example greater mobility and more contacts, immediately lead to higher numbers of infections."
+
Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) considers holidays to be excluded in April.
© Jan Woitas / dpa
Corona border controls like in Bavaria: "Also have to accept inconvenience"
Saxony - like Bavaria under Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU *) - currently has a problem: a border with a neighboring country where corona mutations * are currently spreading.
Kretschmer defended the travel restrictions and controls on the border with the Czech Republic that have been in force since this Sunday, even if these should lead to kilometers of traffic jams.
Without a negative test, nobody is allowed to cross the border anymore
Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU)
"We also have to accept inconvenience for effective protection," he said.
“We have been able to reduce the number of infections in Germany with massive measures and enormous costs.
We mustn't gamble that away.
One thing is clear: nobody is allowed to cross the border without a negative test. ”In the foreseeable future, only commuters who are important for medical care will be allowed to enter the country.
* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital editorial network
