Over three months of lockdown - and still no end.
Maybrit Illner discusses with her guests whether and how a relaxation would be possible.
The corona pandemic - how could it be otherwise - was once again the focal point of Maybrit Illner's ZDF talk.
Although Angela Merkel's federal government - in view of the looming "third wave" - currently dominates the question of whether and how the lockdown must be extended, Illner turns the tables and discusses with her guests how an opening could be organized.
Talk topic: "Relax, but safe - is that possible?"
Mayor Boris Palmer shows how it is in Tübingen.
The controversial Green politician is soon planning openings with the help of rapid tests - if necessary, single-handedly.
Palmer's explanation is simple: “Because we can no longer hold out!” Many companies are at an end.
Palmer: “The inner cities will be half dead if we only open them in summer!” And: “It's about the foundations of our society.
The nucleus of democracy is the commune. "
"Maybrit illner" - these guests discussed with:
Karl Lauterbach (SPD)
- epidemiologist and health economist
Susanne Schreiber -
Deputy Chair of the Ethics Council
Boris Palmer (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen)
- Lord Mayor of Tübingen
Harald Lesch -
science presenter and author
Isabelle Oberbeck -
Medical Officer and Head of the Weimar Health Department
Corona lockdown in Germany: Palmer wants to reopen the shops with the help of quick tests
And this is what his plan should look like: rapid test streets in the city center, everyone can be tested there.
The mayor: "Those who tested negatively could go to the museum or go shopping for six hours without worrying." As with the tests in old people's homes, the city has now also tested children.
"It is the third week in which we test in all daycare centers and all schools," reports Palmer.
In over 10,000 tests, not a single one was positive.
Palmer isn't the only one who handles openings himself.
Primary schools and kindergartens are now almost nationwide open again for small children and lower grades, in addition to Bavaria, other federal states will open the construction and flower markets from next week, as well as nail salons and driving schools.
In many places retailers receive customers by appointment.
Sounds like new hope at first.
Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Lauterbach upsets Palmer with his criticism
But now Karl Lauterbach has his appearance.
For many, the busiest talk guest of the past year is now the personified Corona warning.
The health expert from the ranks of the Bundestag SPD will also fill this role on Thursday.
The new mutants, Lauterbach warns, are partly “more contagious and deadly” than the previous virus, and easing the current situation is “fatal”, a “maddening move”.
The only way out, he sees a lockdown extension for another two months.
Lauterbach also had a few complaints about the quick tests, including the poor quality of many tests.
A little later he all adds that those approved in Germany are of a good standard.
Lauterbach knows exactly what else could go wrong: You can attract virus imports from other cities with openings.
Also, private tests cannot ensure that those who have tested positive are reported to the health department.
Palmer sucks: “These are all solvable problems.
Don't just raise concerns - you can also present solutions! ”He calls from the switched-on screen into the studio in Berlin.
Lauterbach looks grim.
Corona in Germany: Illner guest criticizes German bureaucracy - "We stand in our own way!"
Science moderator and author Harald Lesch jumps to the side of the mayor: "Pragmatism is something that gives a system a certain resilience," Lesch muses.
The science journalist cannot understand the long approval period for rapid tests in Germany either: “We stand in our own way,” he says.
In the UK, rapid tests had been approved since August last year.
From the quick test snail start to the vaccine snail: The AstraZeneca vaccine is said to be on the shelves like lead: 1.2 million doses of this type of vaccine are said to have remained uninjected so far.
The Deputy Chair of the Ethics Council, Schreiber, cautiously announces: "Anyone who turns down a vaccination offer at the moment will probably have to wait in line again."
This is also confirmed by the head of the Weimar health department, Isabelle Oberbeck.
It is "not really understandable".
Elementary school teachers and educators in Weimar are to be vaccinated with it from Sunday.
Palmer and Lauterbach also agree on this point.
Both politicians see it as a big mistake that Germany has ignored the European approval authority, which also approved the vaccine for the elderly.
Lauterbach criticizes the fact that this decision led to an “excellent vaccine” falling into disrepute.
According to Lauterbach, it turned out that the vaccine also perfectly protected eighty-year-olds.
Palmer agrees and says, "This is a serious strategic mistake that costs lives."
Conclusion of the “maybrit illner” talk
What is the question of the broadcast again? Oh yes: easing - and if so, how? There is no real answer to this. However, there is a slight suspicion that one or the other municipality is being encouraged to just try it on their own.
