"That is absurd": press review on German corona policy

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Reflection by the Chancellery: "Hope has deceived"

Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa

»Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung«:

Germans can fly to Mallorca, but they should definitely not go on holiday inland.

That's absurd.

And the federal and state governments are wrestling over whether tests should be carried out once or twice a week in schools, daycare centers and companies.

That would also be too little.

How much people participate and do not want to get Corona under any circumstances, you could see from the run on the discounters, who were selling quick tests for little money.

Supermarkets show governments off.

Planning "Made in Germany" appears to be a thing of the past in the Corona crisis.

"Stuttgarter Nachrichten":

Hope has failed.

By the end of April / beginning of May, when the vaccination should really pick up speed, the country will no longer be able to make ends meet with more corona tests.

It has been less than three weeks since Angela Merkel's prime ministerial group tried to make the population believe that there could be far-reaching openings despite the already increasing number of cases and warnings about the virus mutations.

Even from the Chancellor's cautious strategy, only an "emergency brake" remained - which is now being activated.

The republic is back on the run and into an even stricter lockdown.

This is frustrating, but with the current surge in infections, there is no real alternative.

"Mittelbayerische Zeitung":

Everything is more expensive than regular tests: Corona diseases and their long-term consequences, short-time work, business closings, the isolation of old people, neglect of children.

But that has been known for a long time.

Planning "Made in Germany" appears to be a thing of the past in the Corona crisis.

This is more than spilled milk.

This is a disaster.

"Heilbronn voice":

Now the federal and state governments are pulling the emergency brake in order to push the rapidly increasing number of infections down again.

There is agreement on the goal, but less on the concrete measures.

If there is a dispute about visits at Easter, trips to Mallorca or “low-contact” vacations in one's own state, skepticism is the order of the day.

We will only get the pandemic under control if the turbo is finally started for testing and vaccination.

At the same time, more pilot projects like those in Tübingen, Rostock or Berlin are needed to enable a society, which is rightly disappointed by the rulers, to be a little more normal.

The Chancellor has promised more German flexibility.

Now she has to deliver.

»Märkische Oderzeitung«:

If you look at the measures discussed before the round, you get a good insight into how desperately the round is looking for screws that can be turned a little in the direction of avoiding contact.

Night curfews, for example, with which people are to be found who may not have adhered to the ban on contact.

Experience from the federal states in which such a regulation applies shows, however, that mostly people are stopped for good reasons - there are also people who keep this country running at night.

And there are police officers who are supposed to check these people in the near future - if there are enough.

»Allgemeine Zeitung«:

People rightly miss a logic of restrictions that would help them to bear the unchangeable.

Yes, politics made mistakes.

Partly serious.

But nothing will get better if we citizens now fall into defiance and recklessness, which those responsible have nothing to oppose, even with the best of will.

It may - still - be legal to fly to Mallorca.

But is it wise?

This question also applies to Easter visits to Grandma, as it hurts.

»Stuttgarter Zeitung«:

The infection situation is deteriorating rapidly.

Taking into account your own specifications, further opening steps were out of the question, on the contrary.

But the political guidelines are already part of the problem.

Who hasn't lost track of which limit values ​​should be relevant for which rules?

Especially since in the end every prime minister and every district administrator reads these figures out for himself what he thinks is opportune.

"Mitteldeutsche Zeitung":

Germany remains in lockdown mode.

At the same time, Easter should sprout new hope.

Now it is said that when we go on Easter vacation, the summer vacation falls flat.

The problem with politics is now: do we still believe it?

Doesn't everything fall into the water anyway?

Germans can fly to Mallorca, but under no circumstances should they go on holiday inland.

That's absurd.

The most dangerous virus mutation, the Brazilian variant, is not yet widespread in Germany.

But that too is probably only a matter of time.

"Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung":

The extension of the lockdown is not wrongly perceived as if Germany were stepping on the spot or going in circles.

This is not only due to the vaccination campaign, which does not want to move.

Above all, it has to do with the fact that the tools for managing risk-laden contacts are still underdeveloped.

Symptomatic of this is the suggestion that schools and kindergartens may only remain open if they can be tested twice a week.

You ask yourself: Are two quick tests a week still a problem in Germany?

Why?

The misery of apps is just as symptomatic.

The Corona app was and will be updated - unfortunately not with the crucial functions and only now, after private initiatives such as the Luca app have gotten going.

»Rhein-Zeitung«:

It is nonetheless undisputed that the corona policy has long been blooming grotesquely.

Juggling incidence values ​​doesn't help.

Again and again a new limit value is proclaimed, which then serves as a guideline for loosening or emergency braking for a few weeks.

The day before yesterday the incidence was 35, yesterday again 50, today 100. This has to stop.

Germany cannot avoid the fact that you first have to test, secondly test and thirdly test.

And vaccinate to the same extent.

What works in an exemplary manner in cities like Tübingen and Rostock, the federal states must also be able to achieve.

Otherwise we'll shimmy from lockdown to lockdown.

Icon: The mirror

wal / dpa