The Corona summit is celebrating a revival.
Angela Merkel and the heads of state are facing explosive questions.
A “five-point plan” by Armin Laschet is already there - but it (still) leaves questions unanswered.
After a longer break, another “Corona summit” * is due on Tuesday (August 10th).
Chancellor Angela Merkel * and the country leaders discuss the next steps in the pandemic.
There is a lot to do here.
Open questions include rules for unvaccinated people, costs for corona tests * and a replacement of incidence * as the main political criterion.
This news ticker is updated regularly.
Berlin - For many months, the corona emergency brake first regulated the pandemic policy, then falling incidences determined the procedure.
There is another “Corona summit” on Tuesday.
And Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU *) and the Prime Ministers will have a lot to do.
A painfully known demand was already made in advance: A solid “strategy” for the second autumn of the pandemic is required.
But that's exactly what some observers miss - also in view of the risk of renewed lockdowns
The to-do list for the summit is long and sometimes uncomfortable.
Some main questions: Can and should politics impose restrictions on unvaccinated people?
How long should society pay for corona tests?
How can incidence be replaced as the main criterion for new restrictions?
There is no shortage of suggestions.
Corona rules: Laschet presents an internal plan - Dobrindt wants "3 I" instead of incidence
Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet * has apparently already presented a "five-point plan" internally. According to
Spiegel, the
motto of the paper presented in the CDU Presidium
: "Prudent but decisive action". However, tangible details did not penetrate - or were not included. It is about "expanding the obligation to test, more incentives and broader appeals to vaccinate, as well as a more differentiated recording of the pandemic," participants in the group told the news magazine. There was broad approval for this. But lines of conflict are also emerging - ironically, directly through Merkel's grand coalition *.
Merkel & Co. would like to tackle the search for new criteria instead of incidence - a change has long been announced and probably anything but unpopular in the country. CSU regional group leader Dobrindt has already dared to make a move: He called for a "dynamic 3-I value". Vaccination progress, intensive care bed utilization and incidence should be considered, as he
told
the
picture on Sunday
. Looking at the incidence alone, lockdowns could soon be looming again.
The chances of an agreement are probably not bad - if the summit participants agree on the details: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig made a similar statement, she spoke of a "Corona traffic light".
Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht expressed her optimism from Merkel's cabinet.
A solution will be discussed at the summit, "I hope that this will apply very soon," she told rbb-Inforadio on Monday.
Corona summit: lash against restrictions for unvaccinated people - and alone on a wide union corridor?
The situation is more confusing when it comes to restrictions for unvaccinated people. Laschet, for example, rejects discrimination against unvaccinated people if they can show a negative corona test. “The state must not exclude those who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested from participating in social life,” said the Union Chancellor candidate of
Bild am Sonntag
. The so-called 3-G rule is "sensible, moderate and implementable". Lambrecht sees it similarly. "We should not now exclude people as a state," she emphasized. It is a different case if, for example, a restaurant owner makes a regulation.
Agreement between the Union Chancellor candidate and the SPD. But Laschet's stance is more of an exception in the ranks of top politicians from the CDU and CSU *. Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU), for example, chose a positively applied formulation - but still makes it clear that unvaccinated people will probably not have the same rights as vaccinated people. He told
Welt am Sonntag
that there was too much talk about the alleged indirect compulsory vaccination and too little about the rights of vaccinated people. "I think the pressure from the vaccinated part of the population will increase tremendously," he added.
Brinkhaus indicated that he expected hoteliers, clubs and event organizers to require vaccination certificates in the future.
Lambrecht also declared this variant feasible - she explained that freedom of contract applies in these areas.
Corona tests a topic for Merkel's summit: Spahn's proposal could come through - associations warn
Another key topic are the corona tests, which have been free so far. Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) proposes in a strategy paper that the free rapid tests should expire in mid-October. The costs for the rapid test should only be reimbursed for people who cannot be vaccinated or for whom there is no vaccination recommendation. Lambrecht (SPD) shares this view. Everyone who can get vaccinated has a vaccination offer, she said in the RBB. "But if I decide myself not to accept this offer, then I will have to face the consequences and cannot expect the general public to pay for these tests."
This causes criticism from the opposition and social organizations.
It is feared that a lot of what they can do now will no longer be possible for low-income families.
The FDP had also already expressed criticism * - the Greens seem divided.
The only Green Prime Minister, Winfried Kretschmann, is in line with Spahn and Lambrecht.
"In the long run, the public purse will not be able to finance the tests," he warned in the
Stuttgarter Zeitung
.
The mask requirement is likely to remain: In the strategy paper from Spahn's house, it is proposed to maintain the requirement to wear medical protective masks in local and long-distance public transport and in retail, including those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered.
So far, there have been hardly any demands to the contrary.
Corona summit: retail warns indirectly of a new lockdown - "cannot be justified"
Meanwhile, the German Trade Association (HDE) called for a prevention strategy to prevent a new lockdown.
In a letter to the Chancellor, from which the dpa quoted, among other things, HDE President Josef Sanktjohanser demanded a move away from the sole fixation on incidence in view of the increasing number of corona cases.
The use of the previous incidence values for government orders up to the closure of non-food shops and entire city centers is "justifiable neither from an epidemiological nor from a legal point of view".
The City Council also called for a vaccination strategy for autumn and winter in order to be better prepared for a fourth corona wave. General Manager Helmut Dedy told the dpa: "We have a whole series of new vaccination tasks ahead of our breasts: booster vaccinations for the elderly and those in need of care, more vaccinations for children from 12 years and much more direct vaccination offers." The cities need clarity beyond September, if most major vaccination centers are closing. (
dpa / AFP / fn
)
* Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
