Enlarge image
"2G" is posted on the entrance door of a restaurant in Frankfurt am Main
Photo: Arne Dedert / dpa
Germany is recording new negative records in the number of new corona infections every day, and more and more districts are reporting shortages of intensive care beds.
In view of the dramatic situation, the Prime Minister's Conference agreed on new joint measures in the fight against Corona.
The group of country leaders with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) decided, among other things, new benchmarks for the introduction of 2G and 2G-Plus rules as well as partial compulsory vaccination.
SPIEGEL found out about this from participants in the conference.
At the beginning of the round, Merkel described the drama of the corona situation with haunting words.
"We're full," said Merkel about the situation in the hospitals.
The corona resolutions at a glance:
The federal government is to
initiate compulsory vaccination for nursing professions
.
It should apply to all employees in hospitals and integration assistance facilities as well as in old people's and nursing homes and mobile care services.
"The federal states are asking the federal government to implement this as soon as possible," the decision said.
Above certain limit values,
2G or even 2G Plus
applies
across the board
in the federal states
.
2G allows access to events and restaurants for vaccinated and convalescents, among other things, 2G Plus also requires an up-to-date rapid test. In the future, the hospitalization incidence will be decisive. Based on 100,000 people, the value indicates how many people infected with corona had to be admitted to hospital in the past seven days. If the hospitalization incidence is above 3, 2G applies in the federal state; if it climbs above 6, 2G Plus follows.
A
state opening clause also
gives the individual federal states the tools they
need
for possible shutdowns: If the
incidence of
hospitalization rises above 9, the state parliaments are allowed to "make consistent use of the further possibilities of the Infection Protection Act".
In
addition to the mask requirement, the
3G rule will be
introduced
in the railways and in local public transport
-
i.e.
access for vaccinated, convalescent or currently tested people.
"The test certificate must be shown on request," says the decision.
The
3G rule
should also
apply in
the
workplace
- unless operational reasons make it impossible.
The federal government should work out a corresponding requirement, and employers should therefore monitor and document compliance on a daily basis.
"To this end, all employers must also have the right to information about their employees."
In the elderly and nursing homes, employees will be
obliged to test daily
.
This also applies to dormitories for people with disabilities and other vulnerable people.
The
vaccination campaign
should
pick
up speed again, general practitioners should increasingly offer booster vaccinations, and vaccination centers will also be reactivated and subsidized by the federal government.
It is to be checked whether non-doctors may also vaccinate in the future - Merkel had brought pharmacists into play at the meeting here.
The
control density of the corona protective measures
is to be increased in order to prevent abuse.
The retention of the
free citizen tests
,
which had already been reintroduced
, was once again confirmed.
If necessary, the Bundeswehr should come to the aid of the federal states with testing or the vaccination infrastructure.
Nursing staff should again receive a
care bonus
.
The amount is unclear, the states are asking the federal government to provide the necessary financial resources.
Companies particularly affected by the pandemic should again receive financial support - the
bridging
aid
III Plus
will be extended until March 31st.
The aid was originally due to expire at the end of the year.
The Prime Minister's Conference was chaired by North Rhine-Westphalia in a video conference.
The heads of the federal states discussed this with Merkel and the SPD candidate for Chancellor, Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD).
A next meeting is scheduled for December 9th.
New Infection Protection Act passed
During the pandemic, the federal and state governments had already met in several such rounds to agree on measures.
The meetings were often characterized by arguments and occasionally lasted into the night.
After that, the agreed measures were not always implemented in the federal states.
Before the beginning of the Bund-Länder round, the traffic light parties had already passed a reformed Infection Protection Act in the Bundestag.
After the epidemic situation has ended, the law is intended to provide the countries with new tools in the fight against Corona.
The Greens had previously been angry that they and the FDP were not switched on as representatives of the possible future traffic light coalition.
mrc / cte / gud