Lockdown at the Omikron summit averted: instead, contact restrictions for everyone and a ban on meetings

Created: 12/22/2021, 09:37 AM

By: Patrick Mayer, Andreas Schmid

The country chiefs and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) advised on the tightening of the corona in Germany.

However, a lockdown is not part of the new rules.

The news ticker.

• Is there a partial lockdown coming in Germany?

  The federal and state governments will meet on Tuesday (December 21).

• There will be no lockdown around Christmas and between the years - that is decided by the Corona summit with the country chiefs and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).

  (

  see update from December 21st, 7 p.m.

  )

• The RKI had previously called for "maximum contact restrictions" - Markus Söder (CSU) then criticized the advance from Berlin.

  (

  see update from December 21st, 1:20 p.m.

  )

• This

  news ticker for the lockdown discussion

  is continuously updated.

Update from December 21, 7:50 p.m.:

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) welcomed after the federal-state consultations that there will be no complete or at least (partial) lockdown in Germany between the holidays.

“Many citizens are not only insecure, they are actually tired and annoyed.

And so what we do has to be appropriate.

With falling numbers in Bavaria, a complete lockdown this week would have been simply inappropriate and not fair, ”said the 54-year-old Franconian about the results of the Corona summit between the state leaders and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).

“Because Omikron is there, but not to the extent that the increasing numbers are concerned”, a new lockdown, as requested by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) at noon, was not justified for him.

Corona pandemic: decision made - no lockdown despite Omikron in Germany

Update from December 21st, 7 p.m.:

The complete lockdown is missing and also the stricter rules before and over Christmas.

However, there will still be clear tightening of the rules.

This also includes contact restrictions for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered.

As of December 28th, you can only meet with a maximum of ten people.

For those who have not been vaccinated, they are only allowed to meet with their own household and two other people.

However, no decision was taken to close retail or gastro.

However, from December 28th, Bundesliga matches and other major events may only take place without an audience.

In addition, there is a ban on gathering on New Year's Eve.

An overview of the resolutions can be found here.

Update from December 21, 5:55 p.m.:

Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (The Greens) has quickly called for stricter measures in the fight against the corona virus in view of the very contagious Omikron variant.

The vaccination is important, but not enough - private contacts should be reduced, said the Green politician on Tuesday in the state capital of Stuttgart.

Kretschmann also called for the Bundestag to declare the so-called epidemic situation of national importance.

"What else has to happen for it to be called out?" He asked.

The countries need the whole set of instruments in the fight against the corona virus.

Update from December 21, 5:34 p.m.:

At the MPK, the federal and state governments are currently discussing new corona measures.

A possible mini lockdown is also possible.

At the same time, a survey by

and

published that shows: Two thirds of Germans are for a lockdown.

66 percent are for the closure of shops, clubs and leisure facilities, as well as for contact and exit restrictions.

32 percent reject a lockdown.

The polling institute Forsa interviewed around 1000 people for the survey from December 17th to 20th.

Corona pandemic: partial lockdown in Germany?

Saxony's Kretschmer calls for "contact reduction"

Update from December 21, 3:45 p.m.:

How strict are the latest contact restrictions in the coronavirus pandemic?

And: do they still apply before Christmas?

After that?

And which corona rules apply on New Year's Eve.

Question after question.

At the moment, the country leaders are conferring with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).

Saxony's Prime Minister is putting pressure on it.

"Germany is in a pandemic emergency," wrote Michael Kretschmer (CDU) on Twitter - and demanded: "Further contact reduction is imperative." Now, "decisive action" is necessary, said Kretschmer in the tweet.

Saxony is particularly hard hit by the fourth wave of the corona pandemic - with high numbers of infections and a comparatively low vaccination rate in the Free State.

Corona pandemic: partial lockdown in Germany?

RKI proposes tough rules

Update from December 21, 2:45 p.m.:

Apparently, quite suddenly, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) got involved in the debate about strict contact restrictions in Germany at the end of December and beginning of January.

And that with real tough demands on politics.

In a tweet, the RKI demands “maximum contact restrictions” - immediately.

On top of that.

The details from the RKI paper with the title "Strategy supplement to cope with the beginning pandemic wave" are tough.

Accordingly, the federal authority from Berlin demands from the Corona summit:

• Gastronomy lockdown:

  Restaurants and pubs are also to close.

  Only "to go" sales should be possible.

• Daycare centers and schools:

  The Christmas holidays for children and young people are to be extended.

• Large events

  : Should be banned without exception.

  Also means: ghost games in the soccer Bundesliga and in the other leagues of German professional sport such as the handball Bundesliga (HBL) and the German ice hockey league (DEL), some of which were recently allowed to play before limited audience capacities.

• Fitness studios and indoor swimming pools: should

  close.

  "Active sport" should be possible "only outdoors".

• Curfews

  : In its recommendation to politicians, the RKI explains: “The option for a further reduction in contacts, e.g.

  B. by restricting mobility in regions with particularly high virus activity, should be created. "

Corona pandemic: partial lockdown in Germany?

Hamburg introduces a curfew for gastro

Update from December 21, 2:20 p.m.:

Hamburg is

the Omikron wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hanseatic city will significantly limit contacts even before Christmas.

At least as far as the rules are concerned.

As several media reports unanimously, only a maximum of ten people are allowed to come together privately in Germany's second largest city in terms of population.

This therefore applies to those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered.

In addition, dance events are prohibited in the northern German metropolis with around 1.9 million inhabitants.

Ergo: The night gastronomy with discos, clubs and dance halls will have to close.

From now on, a curfew from 11 p.m. will apply in the rest of the catering trade.

An exception is New Year's Eve, when pubs, restaurants and bars are allowed to stay open until 1 a.m.

For unvaccinated people there are even stricter measures.

For the time being, you are only allowed to meet privately with members of your own household and with two other people from another household in Hamburg.

Corona pandemic: partial lockdown in Germany?

Markus Söder (CSU) sharply criticizes RKI

Update from December 21st, 1:20 pm:

The sudden RKI demand for immediate "maximum contact restrictions" is met with sharp criticism in Bavaria.

"I am extremely irritated," said Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) at a press conference on the federal-state consultations.

He described the announcement from Berlin as an "extremely unfortunate signal shortly before such a meeting".

The Robert Koch Institute and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) should first come to an agreement, said the Franconian.

In the past few days, the Bavarian Prime Minister had repeatedly affirmed that he wanted to adhere to the Corona rules currently in force in the Free State.

Corona pandemic: partial lockdown in Germany?

RKI wants "maximum contact restrictions"

Update from December 21, 12.50 p.m.:

Corona bang from Berlin! While the Prime Minister of the federal states and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) are still in discussion, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has spoken out in the debate about a possible partial lockdown in Germany.

Due to the current coronavirus situation, the RKI recommends "maximum contact restrictions" in Germany. These should "start immediately" and apply until mid-January, as the federal authority said on Tuesday. In addition, “maximum infection preventive measures” and “maximum speed in vaccinating the population” are needed. Travel should be reduced to what is absolutely necessary, and intensive accompanying communication is required to understand the measures, the health experts from the federal capital said.

With a view to the new Omikron variant of the coronavirus, the RKI speaks of a “pandemic wave currently starting in Germany”.

Even if this wave is still in its infancy in this country, a look abroad shows “that this variant will result in a wave of infections with a dynamic that has not yet been observed”.

Despite the uncertainties that still exist, initial analyzes indicated that Omikron could identify the majority of cases of infection in Germany as early as January 2022, the RKI announced.

There could be tens of thousands of Omikron infections per day.

Under the current conditions, the doubling time in Germany is around three days.

Corona experts: RKI boss Lothar Wieler (left) and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD).

© IMAGO / Chris Emil Janßen

Corona pandemic: partial lockdown in Germany?

Clubs, discos and bars will have to close

Update from December 21, 12.25 p.m

.: What measures are being taken in Germany to contain the omicron wave in the coronavirus pandemic?

This is currently being discussed eagerly between the state leaders and federal politicians in Berlin.

One thing is very clear: discos, clubs and bars will have to close again across Germany, while the closings are currently already in place in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony.

"Now is not the time to keep bars and clubs open," said Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus, the health policy spokeswoman for the FDP, at

.

So it hits night gastronomy again.

Recently, for example, club operators and restaurateurs in Munich took part in the booster campaign in Germany with a vaccination campaign against Corona.

The Association of Münchner Kulturveranstalter eV (VDMK) organized a so-called vaccination marathon on Saturday, December 18, during which between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. in various clubs vaccinations were made for whatever was possible.

Now the clubs and dance halls elsewhere must apparently close again.

Corona pandemic: partial lockdown in Germany?

Green expert makes demand

Update from December 21, 8:45 a.m.:

The Greens health expert Janosch Dahmen sees the additional corona protective measures planned by the federal and state governments after Christmas as a first step, but considers it necessary to prepare an extensive lockdown now. This is important in order to be able to implement such measures quickly and “without long new consultations”, depending on the development of the situation and the spread of the Omikron variant of the coronavirus, said Dahmen on Tuesday in the ARD “morning magazine”.

“We also have to prepare so that we can initiate a more extensive lockdown,” demanded Dahmen. It could be that normal shops could then no longer remain open, but only pharmacies and shops to cover daily needs. It is important now to "act consistently with foresight" so that the situation can then be reacted to accordingly. Then it could well be that the epidemic situation of national scope "would have to be resolved again", which had been abolished by the traffic light parties mainly under pressure from the FDP, said the Green politician. He referred to the already massively aggravated situation in other countries due to the Omikron variant. This is "an additional serious risk".

When asked whether it was right to wait until after Christmas to implement the new measures already planned, Dahmen was cautious.

"Each of us is called upon to spend Christmas only tested and in a small family circle," he said simply.

In addition, the federal and state parliaments should be ready for deliberations over the holidays.

Lockdown in Germany: In the run-up to the Corona summit on Tuesday, there is heated discussion

Update from December 21, 8:20 a.m.:

According to the Federal Minister of Justice and FDP politician Marco Buschmann, a lockdown to contain the corona pandemic should be prevented, but not ruled out. "Excluding an instrument once and for all, that is not advisable in a dynamic situation," said Buschmann on Tuesday on Deutschlandfunk before the federal-state round about new corona requirements. "But at the moment we want to rely on the booster campaign and work with the instrument of contact restrictions."

Buschmann made it clear that a lockdown would restrict people's freedom considerably and also impair their development with "damage to the health of the soul, but also of the body".

School closings would also have significant consequences.

“Our goal is to prevent that.” According to a representative survey by the opinion research institute, half (around 50 percent) of citizens in Germany would currently support another lockdown, including school closings, after the Christmas holidays.

Around 40 percent would reject this, as YouGov announced on Tuesday.

Around 11 percent therefore did not provide any information.

The deviations from the 100 percent result from rounding differences.

Update from December 21, 7.15 a.m.:

With new restrictions, the federal and state governments want to curb the spread of the highly contagious Omikron variant of the corona virus. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the state leaders intend to take the appropriate decisions at a switching conference on Tuesday afternoon. In advance, the Chancellery agreed the core measures in consultations with the state chancelleries of the federal states. For the first time, there will be contact restrictions for vaccinated and convalescent people in private: From December 28, only a maximum of ten people will be able to meet. Children under the age of 15 are exempt. As soon as an unvaccinated person takes part in the meeting, the stricter contact restrictions for unvaccinated people should apply.For these, meetings are then limited to their own household and a maximum of two people from another household.

For the upcoming Christmas days, the federal and state governments only issue a recommendation, not a requirement: They call on citizens to “limit” the number of contacts at family celebrations on their own initiative.

The new contact restrictions should then already be in force on New Year's Eve.

"In particular, New Year's Eve celebrations with a large number of people are not justifiable in the current situation," says the draft. 

First report from December 20th, 8 p.m .:

Berlin - The corona measures in Germany are likely to be tightened.

On Tuesday, the federal and state governments want to discuss stricter rules such as contact restrictions.

A nationwide lockdown should not exist, it was previously said - especially since this pandemic control instrument is currently not legally possible.

However, that does not mean that it will stay that way in the future.

Lockdown in Germany: Lauterbach, Habeck and Lindner say "No"

Karl Lauterbach (SPD) made a promise to the population on Sunday (December 19).

"We will not experience a lockdown here like in the Netherlands," said the health minister in the ARD "report from Berlin".

In Germany's neighboring country, very strict corona requirements have recently come into force.

Overall, politicians rarely use the word lockdown at the moment anyway.

The "lockdown" is almost only mentioned when it is pointed out that it should not exist.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (both SPD) in conversation.

Another corona summit will take place on Tuesday.

© Florian Gaertner / Photothek / Imago Images

FDP leader Christian Lindner spoke out in favor of “consistent measures” against the spread of Omikron.

The aim of the FDP is "to preserve as much social life as possible and to avoid lockdowns," he said at a press conference.

"The FDP knows that many people in our country are afraid of a new lockdown."

Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) also announced that he wanted to bypass a lockdown.

"I think we have other options for a more differentiated approach," said Habeck on Deutschlandfunk.

His party colleague Janosch Dahmen had previously told the German Press Agency: "In view of the extremely high transferability of Omikron, we will probably not be able to avoid a lockdown after Christmas."

Want to avoid a lockdown at the moment: Robert Habeck (left) and Christian Lindner.

© Michael Kappeler / dpa

Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) argued that the contact restrictions discussed would not resemble a “lockdown light”.

"When we say we don't want a lockdown, that means you can celebrate Christmas with the family, you can meet friends, you can visit one or the other small event," said Müller at ntv.

However, larger New Year's Eve celebrations are not responsible.

That's why there will probably be stricter rules from December 28th.

The SPD top avoided the word "lockdown" on Monday morning entirely.

“There are no red lines,” said party leader Lars Klingbeil, if the spread of the Omikron variant increases and the measures decided up to then prove to be inadequate.

Corona lockdown and the legal situation: "We can resolve the epidemic situation again immediately"

A nationwide lockdown would have to be legally legitimized in Germany. Currently, however, the Infection Protection Act, which has recently been amended several times, sets certain limits: General exit restrictions, business or school closings are therefore not permitted. "This is not possible due to the current legal situation," said North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) on Monday the German Press Agency. For such extensive measures, which would amount to a lockdown, the law would have to be changed again.

Another possibility would be to resolve the epidemic situation of national importance that expired at the end of November. The hurdles for this seem to be surmountable. Union faction vice Sepp Müller (CDU) wrote on Twitter. “The instrument box from the left-yellow is not enough against the Omikron variant. We can resolve the epidemic situation of national importance immediately and thus proclaim it. ”Then a nationwide lockdown would also be possible again.

This is by no means excluded: The Association of Towns and Municipalities wants to keep the possibility of a lockdown open.

Because of the rapid spread of the Omikron variant, it could be "that the only option of last resort is a nationwide lockdown as a reaction option," said chief executive Gerd Landsberg to the newspapers of the Funke media group.