“No red lines”: Lauterbach does not even rule out a hard lockdown after the federal-state summit

Created: 12/22/2021, 09:51 AM

From: Anna-Katharina Ahnefeld

The summit resolutions showed few surprises.

The RKI's approach is more explosive in a controversial tweet.

Lauterbach and Streeck become clear.

Berlin - The latest Corona resolutions on Tuesday came up with few surprises.

In future, however, the existing contact restrictions will also apply to vaccinated people.

Opposition politicians such as left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch and CSU health politician Stephan Pilsinger sharply criticized the fact that the new contact restrictions should only come into force on December 28th.

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has now also commented on the results.

"What we decided today has an effect", Lauterbach defended the federal-state resolutions to contain the coronavirus in the ARD "Tagesthemen".

“But we're not ruling anything out.

So if the number of cases actually developed in such a way that a hard lockdwon also had to be discussed, then there would be no red lines.

We're not there at the moment. "

Corona: Lauterbach no longer excludes anything after the federal-state summit: "No red lines"

The federal and state governments took far-reaching decisions at the last Corona summit - especially with regard to the Omikron variant. In order to slow down the rapid spread, the federal and state governments decided to further restrict private and public life. But they should only apply after Christmas. From December 28th at the latest, an upper limit of ten people should generally apply for private meetings. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz also reached an agreement with the Prime Ministers of the federal states to close clubs and discos and empty tiers at football matches and other major events. On January 7th, Scholz wants to meet again with the country chiefs to discuss how to fight the pandemic

An RKI tweet published shortly before the federal-state meeting caused a stir.

In it, the institute called for immediate maximum contact restrictions - in other words, much more far-reaching measures than those decided by the federal government.

This sparked criticism during the deliberations.

Lauterbach said in the newspaper that there was no scientific censorship, but the publication was "not coordinated", as the German press agency learned from participants.

That shouldn't happen.

Lauterbach and Streeck comment on Corona decisions: Omikron is the focus

When asked about this in the ARD “Tagesthemen”, the SPD politician was more cautious. “I also attach great importance to the scientific advice provided by the RKI, we work hand in hand. But in the context of the RKI's scientific work, there can sometimes be a requirement that we do not implement immediately, ”he said. On Wednesday, Lauterbach and RKI boss Lothar Wieler will inform together in Berlin about the current corona situation.

The Bonn virologist Hendrik Streeck, member of the German government's Corona Expert Council, also commented on the measures adopted on Tuesday - and defended them. Streeck pointed out on ZDF that the incidences in Germany - unlike in other countries - had recently been falling. Therefore, it is also justified that the planned contact restrictions should only take effect after Christmas - and not during the holidays.

At the weekend, the Expert Council warned of a dramatic situation with a view to the highly contagious Omicron virus variant and already identified a “need for action” for the coming days.

It was recommended to take Omikron seriously and to slow down the expected wave, said Streeck in the evening on the show "ZDF special".

“The resolutions of the MPK are a good way of doing this.” If necessary, you can take readjustments very quickly.

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