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Passers-by stand in front of a closed shop
Photo: Armin Weigel / dpa
Nocturnal exit restrictions with a corona incidence above 100, but schools only close at an incidence of 200 and above: The federal government has presented a proposal for nationwide measures against the third corona wave.
The draft for an amendment to the Infection Protection Act is now to be coordinated with the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag and with the states.
According to dpa information, the Ministry of Health asked the parliamentary groups for suggestions by 12 noon on Sunday.
In the wording aid, which SPIEGEL has and which was sent to parliamentary groups and states on Saturday, the federal government proposes several measures for districts in which an incidence of 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants or more is registered within a week - that is currently more than half of all districts in Germany.
For example, only private meetings of a household with one other person and of a maximum of five people would be permitted;
Children don't count.
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Exit restrictions from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. are also proposed.
There should be only a few exceptions, for example for medical emergencies, going to work or caring for animals, but not for evening walks alone.
Compulsory testing for companies
Employers should therefore offer home offices whenever possible.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) has reiterated his call for corona testing in companies.
"So far, only six out of ten employees have received an offer from their employer to be tested regularly," he told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung".
"That is far too little, our agreement was aimed at a test rate of 90 percent."
The time for roll calls was over, continued Scholz.
"We must obligate the companies to make their employees a test offer," he told the newspaper.
That must be part of the Corona resolutions in the coming week.
Scholz had already brought a possible test obligation in companies into play.
Unlike Scholz, Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) rejects mandatory testing.
He said on Friday that it was "astonishing" how much had already been achieved on a voluntary basis.
It is true that the numbers need to be expanded, but he believes that this can also be achieved "without new regulations and ordinances".
The federal government is also proposing compulsory testing for schoolchildren: Anyone who takes part in classroom teaching should be tested twice a week.
Schools should only close if the incidence is 200 or more on three consecutive days in a district.
However, there is still room for emergency care in schools and daycare centers and final classes can be exempted from the closure.
Vulnerable under constitutional law?
In view of the increasing number of new infections and increasing stress in the intensive care units, the federal and state governments agreed on a new procedure.
Instead of the usual conference between Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the Prime Minister, measures for regions with high numbers of infections are to be laid down in law.
Before the details were known, the initiative met with broad approval.
At the same time, however, it became apparent that the individual measures would still be struggled with.
FDP leader Christian Lindner reacted critically to the federal draft: »The planned strict curfew is ultimately disproportionate.
For example, a vaccinated couple's evening walk does not pose any risk of infection, ”he emphasized.
"This provision is highly vulnerable under constitutional law." The sole orientation to the incidence value of 100 infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week is also wrong.
This does not adequately reflect the local pandemic.
According to the proposals of the federal government, the opening of shops should be prohibited again if the limit values are exceeded - with the exception of supermarkets, beverage stores, drug stores, pharmacies, but also bookstores, flower shops and garden centers.
Leisure facilities, theaters, cinemas, museums and zoos were also closed.
Sports in a group would also be prohibited again - with the exception of professional and competitive sports.
Gastronomy and tourism remained closed.
"The pandemic is not taking a break"
The federal government aims to have the law passed through the Bundestag and Bundesrat as soon as possible as soon as the measures have been agreed with the states and parliamentary groups.
Berlin's governing mayor Michael Müller (SPD) expects the process to take up to two weeks.
"I am already assuming that within the next 10 or 14 days we will manage this together - the Bundestag and Bundesrat - and that we will then have a framework with which we can all work well together," said the chairman of the Prime Minister's Conference in the ZDF “Today Journal”.
Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) had previously expressed confidence that the changes could be implemented within a week.
At the beginning of March, the federal and state governments had already agreed rules for the eventuality that the seven-day incidence in a region rises above 100.
All of the easing measures taken up to that point should be completely reversed.
However, it later became apparent in many cases that the so-called emergency brake was not being used sufficiently - as Merkel had criticized, for example.
Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) has now pleaded for a speedy procedure.
"Brandenburg has always campaigned for uniform nationwide rules to contain the pandemic," he told the German Press Agency in Potsdam.
“If the amendment to the Federal Infection Protection Act helps, that's good.
However, we cannot afford lengthy legislative amendment procedures; we need quick decisions.
The third wave of the pandemic is not pausing. "
More clarity, less patchwork
Most recently, the health authorities reported 24,097 new corona infections to the RKI within one day.
In addition, 246 new deaths were recorded within 24 hours.
The RKI warned that the numbers could still be incorrect because of the Easter and school holidays.
The number of new infections reported within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants was 120.6 nationwide on Saturday morning.
Doctors in the intensive care units complain that the limit will soon be reached.
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Union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus called on the federal and state governments to join forces in view of the pressing situation.
In the end, the countries have often exercised their leeway inconsistently, he criticized.
A joint approach is now important: »There must be no front between the federal government and the states.
We depend on that we fight this pandemic together, «he told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
Because the implementation of the measures is the responsibility of the federal states.
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich emphasized that it was not about a shift of competence from the states to the federal government, but about transparency and liability.
"Changes to the Infection Protection Act can provide more clarity and counteract the impression of a patchwork quilt," he told the editorial network in Germany.
The SPD parliamentary group will take a close look at the federal government's draft.
A quick but orderly procedure is assured.
he / dpa