Expert Council of the Federal Government for Contact Restrictions

Created: 12/19/2021 Updated: 12/19/2021, 6:17 PM

Visitors to the Christmas market on the Römerberg in Frankfurt am Main are crowded together.

© Boris Roessler / dpa

The Netherlands is already in lockdown again, and experts in Germany are calling for contact restrictions.

However, the health minister sees no need for a new lockdown.

Berlin - The new Corona Expert Council of the Federal Government sees a "need for action" for the coming days due to the spread of the Omikron variant.

"Effective nationwide coordinated countermeasures to control the infection process must be prepared, in particular well-planned and well-communicated contact restrictions," said a statement published on Sunday in Berlin. First, the ARD capital studio reported about it.

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach had previously spoken out against a lockdown before Christmas in Germany and the Netherlands. “No, we won't have a lockdown like in the Netherlands before Christmas,” said the SPD politician on Sunday to the “report from Berlin” of the ARD. In the “Bild” talk “The right questions”, Lauterbach said: “I would rule out a hard lockdown now before Christmas. That is clear. "According to the" Bild "report, Lauterbach also considers a hard lockdown to be" unlikely "with a view to the Omikron variant and a fifth, violent wave of infections.

"But in fact it is like this: We will get a fifth wave," said Lauterbach on ARD.

“We have now exceeded a critical number of Omikron infected people.

So this wave can no longer be stopped completely, and we have to counter it. "

The new Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD).

© Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa

In the Netherlands, a tough lockdown came into force on Sunday in view of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the corona virus.

Almost all shops, restaurants, cultural and sports facilities, schools and hairdressers remain closed.

Supermarkets and pharmacies are excluded.

Lauterbach said: "A very central message is that with a booster campaign we can actually protect those who would otherwise be particularly at risk." the minister.

The classification of Great Britain as a virus variant area with travel restrictions from Monday named Lauterbach an important step forward.

He spoke out in favor of more extensive rules: "Personally, I think it would be better if another PCR test were necessary on arrival to be absolutely sure."

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With a view to the more contagious Omikron variant and possible widespread absence from work throughout the country and among professional groups such as police officers and firefighters, the minister said: “We are actually looking into how we can protect the so-called critical infrastructure if such a development occurs.

I hope that won't be the case.

We are doing everything we can to prevent this, but we have to be prepared. ”He is working on this together with the head of the crisis team, Major General Carsten Breuer.

There are prepared crisis plans from the Robert Koch Institute, the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Office for Information Security, which are currently being compiled.

dpa