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Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn
Photo: Michael Kappeler / AP
On June 11, the federal government extended the determination of the so-called epidemic situation of national scope by three more months.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) is now considering ending it in September.
At a special meeting of the Bundestag health committee, he said, according to participants, that from his point of view the most important regulations in the pandemic have now been made.
The legal basis created by the epidemic for the adoption of transnational ordinances and protective measures is therefore no longer necessary.
If further measures are necessary, these could be decided at the state level, said Spahn.
But first the cabinet should advise.
Ultimately, the Bundestag must decide on an extension.
A report by the Federal Ministry of Health had previously become known in which Spahn calls for further corona requirements by spring 2022 to contain a new large wave of infections in the next few months.
These follow-up regulations should then actually also be enacted by the federal states, no longer by the federal government.
The chairman of the health committee Erwin Rüddel (CDU) is calling for the emergency situation to expire in line with Spahn's proposal to the »Bild« newspaper.
The pandemic emergency is linked to a possible overload of the hospitals, said Rüddel.
"As the situation is currently, I cannot imagine that the situation will change again so dramatically that there is a risk of overloading the health system."
"Maintain the precautionary rules for a long time to come"
There was opposition from Vice Chancellor and SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz.
He spoke out in favor of extending the emergency.
"That will have to be, if you ask me," Scholz told the editorial network Germany (RND).
Certain rules are still necessary to protect against corona.
"And for that we need a legal framework," emphasized the Vice Chancellor.
Scholz went on to say that "a few precautionary rules must be kept for a long time to come."
This includes, for example, wearing masks in public transport.
On this point, he stood behind Spahn's demands from the ministry's paper.
Greens see Spahn's move as an attempt to offload responsibility with countries
Green health expert Janosch Dahmen is also pushing for an extension.
"During the entire pandemic, the federal government was always too hesitant and too late when it came to early and decisive action when the number of infections rose," Dahmen told SPIEGEL.
"In the end, there were always poorly crafted legal regulations at the last minute that gave more questions than orientation."
Dahmen explained that he thinks it »foolish if the governing coalition, out of fear of the election in the face of increasing numbers of infections, a new, more dangerous virus variant and a crippling vaccination campaign, simply lets the previous regulatory framework expire and dumps responsibility for the fourth wave in the countries instead of itself to take care of it «.
mfh / dpa