Corona emergency: Merkel declares a "very large catalog of measures" by the federal and state governments

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Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) at the video switch with the prime ministers

Photo: STEFFEN KUGLRT / HANDOUT / EPA

Germany is in a "really worrying situation" - the exponential increase in new corona infections now needs to be stopped quickly.

That said the Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) after a meeting with the country leaders in Berlin.

At the joint meeting, "a very large catalog of measures was agreed" in order to counter the fourth wave.

For the first time, according to Merkel, new threshold values ​​were defined at which restrictions should apply.

In the future, the incidence of hospitalization will apply: The value indicates, based on 100,000 people, how many people infected with corona had to be admitted to hospital in the past seven days.

From a hospitalization incidence of 3, 2G will apply in the affected federal state in the future, from the limit 6, 2G Plus applies.

2G allows access to events and restaurants for the vaccinated and convalescents, among other things, 2G Plus also requires an up-to-date rapid test.

Merkel said Germany was "in a very serious situation".

Once again she appealed to citizens to get vaccinated.

"We need a really big effort here."

SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz, who was present at the meeting in his role as Vice Chancellor, warned of difficult winter months.

"We will see drastic measures that have not yet taken place." Scholz referred, among other things, to the now agreed 3G rule for the workplace.

In future, only those who have been vaccinated, who have recovered and who are currently being tested will be allowed to work - unless operational reasons make this impossible.

According to the resolution, companies should monitor and document compliance on a daily basis.

Scholz recalled the vaccination accordingly: "Everyone should give each other a jerk!"

"The triad is now: caution, vaccinate, test"

Hendrik Wüst, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia and current chairman of the Bund-Laender Round, also warned of a dramatic situation: "For eleven days there have been new highs every day." With all those currently infected, it is already clear that hundreds of them are dying without being able to prevent it, so Wüst.

"The triad now is: caution, vaccinate, test."

For the first time, the federal and state governments also agreed to introduce partial compulsory vaccination.

There was "great agreement" here, according to Wüst.

The mandatory vaccination 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.

Wüst expressly thanked all citizens who have already been vaccinated.

Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) also again promoted vaccination after the resolutions were presented.

He first reported on a conversation with doctors.

This would have described "bitter moments" when young people and pregnant women died in the intensive care units.

The fact that the situation in Germany is so bad is due to the low vaccination rate, said Müller.

"Too much egoism and indifference"

"There are too many people who do not accept vaccination offers even though they could." It is not because there has been too little education and advertising, according to Müller.

"That is not the reason.

The reason is that there is too much selfishness and indifference. «In a solidarity community, it depends on each individual, said Müller.

In the future, they want to control the measures more strictly - this means, among other things, compliance with 2G and 3G rules in public as well as a newly decided obligation to test in nursing and old people's homes.

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.

Another meeting of the federal and state governments is scheduled for December 9th.

mrc