The Corona summit with Merkel has been canceled: A law should now fix it.
The draft has already been leaked - with strict tightening.
In the coming week, the Bundestag is to take on the lead in combating the pandemic - a turning point in German Corona * policy
(see initial report)
.
A new infection protection law is to prescribe uniform measures nationwide from an incidence of 100 - details of the regulations are now known (
see update from April 10, 2021, 9:00 a.m.
).
The Prime Minister's Conference had previously been canceled.
This ticker is continuously updated.
Update from April 12, 11:59 a.m.:
This Monday, criticism of the current Corona measures is not only coming from science, but also from business.
"Politicians are intervening in the wrong places," said HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth.
The German retail sector is thus resisting shop
closings
with an incidence of 100
or more (see first report)
.
It has been proven that shopping with a hygiene concept carries hardly any risk of infection.
A current HDE survey of 1000 companies shows how great the need in retail is now.
Accordingly, the downtown retailers lost 60 percent of their sales in the past week compared to pre-crisis times.
The opening up to customers who tested negative could not help either, here sales fell by 62 percent.
Merkel's emergency brake law leaked: Chancellor wants "bridge lockdown" - first resistance in the Bundestag
Update from April 11, 8:20 p.m.:
The SPD federal states are behind the proposal for uniform nationwide corona rules.
This was announced by the Social Democrats' candidate for Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
In the ZDF program "Berlin direkt" he stated that he had just spoken to the country chiefs of his party.
“You are all behind this project and will also support it.
There will be formal consultations, but the path is clear and everyone will be supported, ”said Scholz.
The application for the Infection Protection Act will be decided in the cabinet on Tuesday.
“What we want to regulate here now are the agreements that have long been made between the federal and state governments.
What we can now create is a legal basis that enables uniform handling throughout Germany and at the same time ensures that this is understandable for the citizens, ”said Scholz.
That "moves within the framework of the previous resolutions".
Two other measures are also sensible from Olaf Scholz's point of view: “I am in favor of us also prescribing tests in companies and that there is also an extension of the children's sick days rule for children who are now unable to use a facility. "
Merkel's Emergency Brakes Act Leaked - First Resistance in the Bundestag
Update from April 11th, 8 p.m.:
In the Bundestag there is rejection of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Corona law plans: "The draft in its current version cannot be approved by the Free Democrats," wrote parliamentary group leader Christian Lindner, according to Deutscher Press agency in a letter to Merkel and Health Minister Jens Spahn (both CDU).
There are "serious concerns" as to whether the proposed measures are effective, proportionate and withstand constitutional scrutiny, wrote Lindner.
He announced amendments and called for an expert hearing in the Bundestag's health committee.
"If the local pandemic makes it necessary during the consultation of this law that additional measures have to be taken, the federal states have all legal powers to do so," explained Lindner.
Update from April 11, 7:50 p.m.:
A quick agreement between the federal government, the Bundestag and the federal states on uniform corona regulations: CDU boss Armin Laschet is currently pushing for this.
"I only wish that things go quickly now, because the (infection) numbers are foreseeable and they do not depend on the consultation process between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat," said North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister on Sunday evening in the ARD "Report from Berlin".
He added that he had agreed with Chancellor Angela Merkel and the CSU boss and candidate for chancellor Markus Söder that there had to be a temporary so-called bridge lockdown.
In doing so, Laschet admitted that, in accordance with his coalition agreement, he would have to abstain from being in the Federal Council if his Düsseldorf government partner, the FDP, were to stand in the way.
Whether it comes to this depends on the exact design of the Federal Infection Protection Act to be amended.
“In any case, the CDU ministers in the federal government will agree.
We are doing everything to have the broadest possible majority, ”he said.
Corona in Germany: uniform nationwide "emergency brake in planning" - Kretschmann: "unity delusion"
Update from April 11th, 7 pm:
The Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) has complained about the "unity madness" in the Corona policy.
The Green politicians defend the state's deviation from the “emergency brake” as follows: “Materially” this regulation would not change much.
That's what Kretschmann said on Saturday on the sidelines of a party conference of the Southwest Green Party in Heilbronn.
“A married couple can only visit their children alone, but they are at home together.
In a pandemic, that's not the big difference. "
Due to different incidences, there may well be differences in the fight against the pandemic, said Kretschmann.
“I don't share this unity madness at all.” When it comes to central issues, you have to stick together.
Small deviations did not play a role in the pandemic.
Update from April 11th, 6:00 p.m .:
Markus Söder (CSU) stands behind the planned revision of the Infection Protection Act: The draft will "just be finally discussed and of course we as Bavaria as well as the CSU in the federal government will even be co-drivers, that it will be decided, ”said the Bavarian Prime Minister on Sunday in the ARD program“ Report from Berlin ”.
The CSU chief justified the need to change the law by stating that the emergency brake would not be implemented consistently in some regions with an incidence of more than 100.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had criticized this several times in the past few weeks.
"The pandemic is not a regional question, but a national challenge," said Söder.
A uniform national framework is therefore important.
He very much hoped that the opposition in the Bundestag would be ready to help speed up the legislative process.
On Sunday, Markus Söder first publicly announced that he was ready for the Union's candidacy for chancellor.
Merkel advocates consistent "bridge lockdown" at the top of the Union
Update from April 11, 2021, 12:22 p.m.:
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) used the framework of the union retreat on Sunday, April
11, to swear
the party to unity.
She again campaigned for a consistent lockdown in the fight against the third corona wave - and thus also for her emergency braking law, which she would like to present in the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The bridge of the restrictions should be as short as possible, said Merkel after information from the German press agency of participants.
That is why we should now proceed consistently.
The aim is to combine opening steps with testing.
Over Easter, the CDU chairman and North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Armin Laschet proposed a "bridge lockdown" that could bridge the time until the vaccination campaign against Corona takes effect more strongly than before.
Merkel's emergency brake law leaked: previous curfews, hairdressers on the brink - the overview
Update from April 10, 2021, 9:00 a.m.:
More and more details are becoming known about the federal government's draft for a new infection protection law, which is available to the AFP news agency.
The draft law also regulates various exceptions.
In the case of the curfew, which is to be enforced between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. in regions with an incidence of 100 or more, medical emergencies, professional activities, the care of people in need of support and actions to take care of animals are exceptions.
In addition, schools and universities should be allowed to offer face-to-face lessons as part of the emergency brake if all participants can present a negative Sars-CoV-2 test that is not older than 36 hours.
However, if the seven-day incidence is over 200 on three consecutive days, then only distance teaching is allowed.
Merkel's Emergency Brakes Act: Unclear hairdressing salons
Theaters, cinemas, museums, zoos and other leisure facilities such as thermal baths and saunas must close and overnight stays for tourists should be prohibited.
The retail trade that is still permitted (food retailers, drugstores, beverage stores, health food stores, pharmacies and petrol stations) must also implement a nationwide limit on the number of customers per square meter.
Restaurants and canteens have to close and can only offer take-away food and drinks.
Professional sport can continue to take place without spectators.
Some areas are not yet regulated in the draft law.
It is currently unclear what will apply to hairdressing salons.
The draft prescribes the closure of "shops and markets with customer traffic for trade, service and craft offers".
However, the draft law also states that FFP2 masks must be worn during body-hugging services.
So far, there are no regulations for worship and demonstrations in the draft.
Amendment of the Infection Protection Act: Dynamic pandemic calls for uniform lockdown measures
From an incidence of 100, the federal government should be able to issue ordinances to contain the pandemic.
So far, this has only been allowed to those countries that will continue to be allowed to adopt corona measures if these go beyond the provisions of the Infection Protection Act.
On Tuesday, the Corona cabinet will vote on the amendment to the Infection Protection Act, which was last revised in November.
This only becomes relevant from an incidence of 100. Below this value, the existing resolutions of the Prime Minister's Conference should continue and the states should retain their jurisdiction.
This planned change in the law is described in the draft as necessary because "the spread of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus has developed into a very dynamic pandemic that makes uniform national regulations and measures absolutely necessary"
Update from April 9, 2021, 9:01 p.m.:
Not only the curfew is the subject of the federal government's draft for a new infection protection law.
The draft, which
Business Insider
has now published in full, also provides that the exercise of sport is prohibited from an incidence of 100, with the exception of individual sport.
Contacts are again only permitted with a person outside the household, provided the total number of people does not exceed five, with the exception of children under 14 years of age.
In addition, the law already provides that there could be special regulations for people who can be assumed to be “immunized against the coronavirus”.
One federal state wants to introduce exemptions for vaccinated people as early as April 12th.
Corona lockdown in Germany: "Formulation aid" of the Infection Protection Act became known - curfews planned
Update from April 9, 2021, 7:25 p.m.:
From an incidence of 100 on three consecutive days, the emergency brake applies on the day after next.
This is now to be regulated uniformly nationwide, as a “formulation aid” for a draft law says.
The wording aid is said to have been handed over to the parliamentary groups of the SPD and Union on Friday afternoon and is available to the broadcaster
ntv
.
Accordingly, the emergency brake includes a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. with the known exceptions, as well as a suspension of face-to-face lessons outside of emergency care.
Shops and "markets with customer traffic for trade, service and handicrafts" must close - this also includes hardware stores.
Grocery stores, health food stores and pharmacies as well as petrol stations are still exceptions.
After the MPK: Laschet (CDU) advocates changes to the Infection Protection Act
Update from April 9, 2021, 6:29 p.m
.: Armin Laschet supports the Chancellor's plans *.
The CDU chairman and prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia therefore advocates that the regulations should be standardized nationwide and that the Infection Protection Act should be changed.
"The state government is constructively involved in the deliberations for a federal regulation of necessary measures to protect against infection," said a spokesman for the Düsseldorf State Chancellery on Friday.
Laschet had already pointed out an urgent need for action at the beginning of the week.
The chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the Düsseldorf state parliament, Christof Rasche, is against the planned standardization of the corona rules in Germany.
He asked himself whether "individual politicians wanted to distinguish themselves with a hard lockdown," he said on Friday.
Merkel's Corona summit disempowered: what comes after the Prime Minister's Conference?
First report from April 9, 2021, 3:57 p.m
.: Berlin / Munich - The German corona policy is facing a turning point: Instead of the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK), the Bundestag is to take over the scepter next week - and by law a nationwide uniform lockdown mechanism for regions with incidences over 100 say goodbye.
The federal and state governments had not been able to agree on a consistent common path for a long time.
Government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said on Friday that a new path had been chosen “for this phase of the pandemic”.
The instrument of the corona summit is by no means a thing of the past.
However, it remains to be seen how great the impact of the move will be.
For the time being, according to Demmer, the amendment to the Infection Protection Act is to replace possible individual measures for a "bridge lockdown".
Calls have already been heard from the Bundestag for influence on further adjusting screws in the fight against pandemics.
Corona law: Merkel, Scholz and Söder already agree?
First content leaked
The first rumors about a possible content of the law were already circulating on Friday afternoon.
Chancellor Angela Merkel * (CDU), her deputy Olaf Scholz (SPD) and CSU boss Markus Söder * negotiated the content in 48 hours and discussed it with MPK boss Michael Müller (SPD) on Friday, the
Bild
reported
.
According to this information, it is planned to leave the decision-making authority to the federal states in counties with an incidence of up to 100.
In addition, a night-time curfew from 8 or 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. should apply.
At the same time, all stores except grocery stores, drugstores, pharmacies, garden centers and hairdressers should close and compulsory testing for companies should come into force.
When it comes to the topic of home office, only “sharp appeal” should continue.
According to
Bild,
the plan to compulsorily close schools with an incidence of 200
or more is controversial
.
On Friday afternoon, Scholz confirmed parts of the plans - among other things, that curfews will be an issue in the law and that distance learning is being considered from an incidence of 200 or more.
Corona summit canceled: last-second decision in favor of law - schedule still unclear, RKI worried
The point in time of the decision in favor of the law path is explosive.
Merkel had threatened the country chiefs weeks ago to intervene by law.
Most recently, the federal and state governments could not even agree on a (new) date for their talks - Prime Ministers accused each other of a lack of preparation.
Now the new path, long called for by the opposition, will cost additional time: Originally, a summit should have taken place on Monday (April 12) *.
According to government information, the cabinet should pass a bill on Tuesday.
The Bundestag and Bundesrat then still have to agree.
In view of this, Demmer could not name a specific time horizon for the entry into force of the statutory emergency brake on Friday.
The Robert Koch Institute is sounding the alarm: The current situation is "not conducive to infection protection against Covid-19," said institute director Lothar Wieler on Friday.
He stressed that every day of waiting costs human lives.
Wieler also spoke out in favor of restricted mobility.
"If you look at the modeling that comes from many groups in Germany, then a lockdown means that mobility will be massively restricted." Initially, it was not foreseeable whether a corresponding plan would be included in the change in the law.
The same applied to the question of possible closings in retail.
Corona lockdown: Bundestag should take over - Prime Minister allegedly "on board"
The Greens welcomed the inclusion of the Bundestag.
"If the Bundestag now makes binding, legally secure decisions, based on science, in the knowledge that intensive care units and many who work there are at their limit, that would be political responsibility," tweeted parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt.
At the same time, she let it be known that the Greens in the Bundestag are calling for bigger steps than the stipulation of limit values: "And for this we finally have to get into the world of work: #homeoffice #testpflicht, drive companies down where possible."
For the time being, according to the Federal Government, the Prime Ministers do not feel disempowered.
The federal and state governments agreed on the new decision-making process in consultation with the parliamentary groups, said Merkel's spokeswoman Demmer: "Everyone involved is on board." to be expected.
But statements quickly allowed other conclusions to be drawn.
The rejection of the MPK destroys the reputation of the group, complained Thuringia's head of state Bodo Ramelow, he was "stunned".
He suspects that there is no longer a common line in the Union-run camp.
Since the failure of the Easter rest period, the Chancellery was “busy creating unrest” in his view.
The development does not initially cast a positive light on German corona policy *: In the event that the seven-day incidence in a region exceeds 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, the federal and state governments had already agreed rules at the beginning of March: All easing of the corona measures would therefore have to be completely withdrawn.
However, in recent weeks it has been shown many times that this so-called emergency brake is not used.
Merkel had also criticized this.
The rules should therefore now be made binding in the Infection Protection Act.
(
fn with material from dpa
) *
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