World Medical Director sharply criticizes “little judges” for Corona judgments - he cites a federal state as an example

Created: 12/27/2021, 05:16 AM

By: Astrid Theil, Julia Volkenand

The federal government has achieved a vaccination target.

World Medical President Montgomery is dissatisfied with the case law on corona measures.

The news ticker.

• The Omikron variant is on the advance, just in time for the turn of the year, new measures were decided at the Corona summit *.

• The vaccination target of 30 million vaccinations was achieved on Christmas

  (update from December 26th, 10:20 am).

• By the end of January, further goals of the federal government in the fight against the corona pandemic are to be implemented

  (update from December 26th, 10:50 am).

• World Medical President Frank Ulrich Montgomery is now criticizing court rulings on Corona measures

  (update from December 26, 4:53 p.m.).

• This news ticker is continuously updated.

Update from December 26th, 8:15 p.m

.: Several hundred people demonstrated in Schweinfurt against the state corona measures - sometimes violently.

“Our emergency services were already forced to use baton and pepper spray against aggressive participants in the assembly.

We call on all participants to peacefully exercise their basic rights and to adhere to the rules, ”tweeted the Lower Franconia police.

Three people who forcibly tried to break through police barriers were arrested.

"We call on all participants to adhere to the restrictions and to clearly separate themselves from rioters and criminals!"

The meeting had not been announced, the Schweinfurt police station was on duty with numerous support staff.

Last Sunday in Schweinfurt, Lower Franconia, up to 3,000 people demonstrated against the Corona measures at an event that was not registered.

At times, safety distances were not observed, the police had announced.

Participants tried again and again to isolate themselves in small groups.

According to their own statements, however, the police prevented an “uncoordinated course of the meeting”. 

World medical chief Montgomery criticizes Richter for Corona judgments

Update from December 26th, 4:54 p.m

.: Sharp tones from the World Medical

: Frank Ulrich Montgomery has sharply criticized Richter for judging corona measures.

"I bump into the fact that little judges stand up and, as in Lower Saxony, 2G in the retail trade because they do not consider it proportionate," said Montgomery of the

(December 27th issue).

A court would presume to reject something that scientific and political bodies had laboriously wrested from them with reference to proportionality.

"I have big problems there," said Montgomery.

There are “situations in which it is right to classify the rights of freedom after the right to physical health - not just for one person, but for everyone”.

“And we have such a situation,” said the World Medical President.

World medical chief Montgomery would "vaccinate like crazy" because of Omikron

Montgomery sees the current pandemic as an opportunity to achieve immunization more quickly with Omikron.

"If the omicron virus, which we can only hope for at the moment, has a significantly lower disease burden, I would still vaccinate like crazy," he told the

.

“The unvaccinated then just have to go through the disease - in the end we might have been lucky enough to reach immunization faster,” he added.

But he reckons that “there will be more to come”.

There will be "even more variants - the Greek alphabet goes to Omega".

World Medical Director Frank Ulrich Montgomery (archive photo) © Guido Kirchner

Corona in Germany: Omicron variant on the advance

Update from December 26th, 4.40 p.m.:

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is on the rise.

She already has a firm grip on other countries.

Experts are certain that there will be an omicron wave in Germany as well.

Only the timing and the course are not yet clear.

The RKI has already confirmed infections with the highly contagious Omikron variant in all federal states.

However, Omikron does not yet make up the majority of new infections.

In Germany, the delta variant still prevails.

However, the number of Omicron infections continues to rise.

Experts agree: the Omikron wave also threatens Germany

RKI President Lothar Wieler commented on the current momentum on Thursday (December 23): “The outbreaks at Omikron are impressive. Very many people who are in a room with an infected person can become infected. Many people also get sick. ”In New York, Omikron * already accounts for 92 percent of new infections. The prevailing reality there could also reach Germany. Experts assume that the Omikron variant will spread strongly in Germany in January.

Update from December 26, 4:22 p.m

.: The police are investigating more than 11,000 cases nationwide because of forged vaccination passports.

The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office alone has had 3,070 cases since the beginning of the year - after 110 cases by the beginning of September.

The investigators assume a high number of unreported cases.

The

reported

this in advance this Sunday, referring to its own survey among the state criminal investigation offices.

Since the end of November, using a wrong vaccination certificate in a pharmacy, for example, has been threatened with a fine or up to two years' imprisonment.

There can be up to five years imprisonment for a “commercial” trade.

Many state criminal investigation offices recently ran warning campaigns with references to these penalties.

Update from December 26th, 12 noon:

The Omikron variant of the coronavirus continues to develop.

Teachers' associations are now warning against sticking to face-to-face teaching at all costs.

The chairman of the Association for Education and Upbringing (VBE), Udo Beckmann, made a clear statement on this: “The Omikron variant worsens the pandemic situation massively - also in schools.

Alternating and distance teaching ”should therefore be“ not taboo ”in the further procedure.

Omikron variant can spread easily, especially in schools

The chairman of the German Teachers' Association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, argues in this direction: "If there should be another lockdown in the coming year, the schools cannot be exempted from it." the Omikron variant is particularly easy to spread in schools. Meidinger believes that a short, tough crackdown in the form of a lockdown including school closings makes more sense than having a situation in which the schools are sometimes open and sometimes closed for months.

Update from December 26th, 10:50 am:

The federal government's first vaccination target was achieved at Christmas: 30 million vaccine doses have been vaccinated since mid-November (see update from December 26th, 10:20 am).

The next goal should be achieved by the end of January.

Until then, there should be a vaccination rate of 80 percent in Germany.

Originally, this vaccination goal should be achieved by January 7th.

61.4 million people in Germany are currently vaccinated at least once.

That is 73.8 percent of the total population.

In order to achieve the vaccination target, around 5 million more people would have to receive an initial vaccination.

The administration of so many vaccinations is hardly feasible by January 7th, which is why the goal has been postponed to the end of January.

From the beginning of January, the Bundestag will debate compulsory vaccinations: sensitive questions still open

In addition, compulsory vaccination for everyone is to be put on the agenda in the Bundestag's first week of session in the new year.

The parliamentary group vice-president of the SPD, Dirk Wiese, confirmed that there would be “a first debate on mandatory vaccination” in parliament at the beginning of January.

The first week of the Bundestag session begins on January 10th.

In the context of the debate about compulsory vaccination, there are some “not easy questions in detail,” said Wiese.

This includes the question of when someone legally loses their vaccination status and when a booster vaccination is necessary.

In view of the more contagious Omikron variant, the Union is also urging the federal government to tighten the corona vaccination requirement for caregivers.

According to the Federal Ministry of Health, employees in clinics and nursing homes do not have to have a booster until nine months after the second vaccination in order to meet the mandatory vaccination requirement, which will apply from mid-March.

The Union calls for this regulation to be tightened.

Söder (CSU): Compulsory vaccinations will overcome divisions in society instead of exacerbating them

CSU boss Markus Söder expressed himself optimistically in connection with the compulsory vaccination up for discussion. This would rather overcome the division in society than deepen it. "Many people would find that it is not so bad to be vaccinated - on the contrary, it even protects and gives freedom," said Söder to

. He added: "For another, compulsory vaccination really helps some save face."

Update from December 26, 10:20 a.m.:

At Christmas, the federal government's self-imposed goal of 30 million corona vaccinations between mid-November and the end of the year was just achieved.

On Christmas Eve alone, 67,000 people were vaccinated in vaccination centers and during special campaigns in churches and at Christmas markets.

On Christmas Day there were 35,000 people.

With these numbers, almost 30 million vaccinations were achieved.

The goal of the federal government achieved: 30 million vaccinations by Christmas

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has thus implemented the goal that he had taken over from ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and increased. At the federal-state summit on December 2, Scholz said that a total of 30 million vaccinations should be achieved in Germany by Christmas. In the meantime, the time has been postponed to the end of the year, which has now turned out to be unnecessary. According to information from the RKI, 24.2 million booster vaccinations were among the total of 30 million vaccinations. 2.8 million people had their first vaccination since the cut-off date (November 18).

Update from December 26th, 8:50 a.m.:

As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported early Sunday morning, the nationwide seven-day incidence has continued to decrease. According to the RKI, 10,100 people have been newly infected with the corona virus in the past 24 hours. The seven-day incidence (number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within one week) was 220.7 on Sunday morning. The previous day the value was 242.9 and a week ago it was 315.4.

However, the RKI points out that fewer tests are carried out during the holidays and at the turn of the year and therefore fewer new infections are reported.

Therefore, the officially reported number of cases could only partially reflect the corona situation in Germany.

In addition, 88 deaths were reported across Germany in the last 24 hours.

A week ago there were 180 deaths.

RKI: Incidence continues to fall - but the numbers only reflect reality to a limited extent

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the health authorities have reported a total of 6,991,381 cases.

The number of people recovered from illness caused by the coronavirus in Germany was around 6,113,500.

The total number of corona deaths in Germany is currently 110,364.

The omicron variant of the virus is currently spreading rapidly.

In November, the federal and state governments set the hospitalization incidence (number of hospitalizations per 100,000 inhabitants within one week) as the decisive benchmark for tightening corona measures.

From a value of three, the 2G rule applies across the board for events.

According to the latest figures from Thursday, the hospitalization incidence is 4.55.

Update from December 25th, 8:26 pm

: Schleswig-Holstein has comparatively low corona numbers.

Why?

For Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) it is because of the mentality.

"We are a different breed of people," he told the dpa.

"Wat mutt, dat mutt.

That is also evident in such a crisis situation. "

Of course, not all residents liked to adhere to the Corona rules, the politician restricted.

"It is clear to the people here in the north, however, that such a crisis can only be fought with solidarity and with a sense of community and personal responsibility." This insight is obviously more widespread in his state than in some others. 

Is it because of the “mentality”, as the country manager believes?

The corona numbers are low in Schleswig-Holstein.

© Stefan Ziese / Imago

Wüst is preparing citizens for further corona restrictions for 2022

Update from December 25th, 7:56 pm

:

Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU)

citizens to understand further foreseeable corona pollution also in 2022. "In the new year, restrictions in everyday life will remain necessary. Omikron is a whole new dimension of the challenge, "said the head of government of a CDU / FDP coalition of the dpa.

The only way out of the pandemic is through vaccinations.

“The availability of enough vaccine gives us the chance to protect ourselves well”.

Unfortunately, the strategy has not yet worked as originally hoped.

"The low vaccination rate in some parts of Germany has thwarted our plans so far," stated the MPK chairman.

"I hope that the compulsory vaccination will come quickly and that it will also contribute to social pacification."

Association of cities and municipalities criticizes the federal and state governments' corona strategy

Update from December 25th, 5:06 pm

: "It is still driven far too much on sight": With these words, the head of the Bundestag, Gerd Landsberg, criticized the Corona strategy of politics. "Everyone knows that the new wave of Omikron is coming," he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. That is why long-term planning is indispensable. "The acceptance among the population would also increase if the decision was not always made from one federal-state conference to the next," said Landsberg.

Landsberg asked the Bundestag to re-determine the epidemic situation of national importance.

"Nobody wants a lockdown, but it can quickly become necessary depending on the development of the infection," he said.

"That's why politicians have to keep this option open so that they can react very quickly."

At the same time, Landsberg asked for a possible general vaccination requirement to be prepared *.

This can only work efficiently with a uniform vaccination register.

Other countries had such a system.

In Germany, “the concrete preparations must now begin”.

"It is quick to clarify how such a register could be set up digitally, unbureaucratically and in compliance with data protection regulations."

Federal Office on Endangerment of Critical Infrastructures: There are reserves

Update from December 25, 12:18 p.m

.: According to the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Aid (BBK), a fifth corona wave will not lead to a collapse of critical infrastructures in Germany. "A fifth wave could lead to restrictions, but not to a collapse," said a spokesman for the office of the

. “There is no reason to assume that. There are reserves. We are not at the end of our Latin. "

In any case, it will probably take until the beginning of the year for Omikron to take full effect in Germany, said the spokesman.

He also praised the preparation for the waves so far.

"We mastered four waves, which were already massive, without restrictions - with the exception of the intensive care units." That is because those responsible are prepared for something like this because corresponding plans existed.

"The companies were also prepared."

The corona numbers in Germany have recently fallen, but experts fear an imminent trend reversal due to the more contagious Omikron variant.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to continue vaccinating over the Christmas holidays and the turn of the year.

Police officers walk through a pedestrian zone in Munich (archive picture).

© Felix Hörhager / dpa

Corona in Germany: 67,000 vaccinations administered in one day

Update from December 25th, 11.15

a.m.: The vaccination rate should remain high over the holidays, the politicians promised.

On December 24th, numerous people in Germany picked up the protective spades against the corona virus.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), around 67,000 vaccinations were administered on Friday, of which 51,000 were so-called booster vaccinations to refresh the vaccination protection

.

The previous vaccination record was achieved on December 15th with a total of 1.6 million doses.

At least 58.9 million people have been vaccinated twice or have received a single vaccination from Johnson & Johnson.

That is 70.8 percent of the total population.

At least 29.9 million people have also received a “booster”.

21.7 million people in Germany are currently not vaccinated, which corresponds to 26.2 percent of the population.

No approved vaccine is currently available for four million of these people between the ages of zero and four years (4.8 percent).

On the RKI dashboard, it is pointed out that the vaccination rates are to be understood as minimum vaccination rates, "since 100% coverage cannot be achieved by the reporting system".

The Robert Koch Institute assumes that the actual vaccination rate is up to five percentage points higher.

People stand in line for a vaccination campaign and wait for their vaccination against Covid-19 (archive image).

© Moritz Frankenberg / dpa

Corona: Popular holiday countries are becoming high-risk areas

Update from December 25th, 9:56 a.m

.: In the middle of the winter vacation time, the federal government is changing important rules for popular destination countries.

Ski fans can breathe a sigh of relief: Austria will be removed from the high-risk list again, reports the dpa.

The popular holiday countries Spain and Portugal as well as the USA have been high-risk areas since Saturday (December 25) due to the high number of corona infections.

The regulation came into effect at midnight.

Finland, Cyprus and Monaco have also been added to the list of high risk areas.

On the other hand, Austria, Belize, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Malaysia were deleted from the list.

Anyone who enters from a high-risk area and is not fully vaccinated or recovered has to be in quarantine for ten days and can only get rid of it with a negative test five days after arrival at the earliest.

The Foreign Office automatically issues a travel warning for high-risk areas.

It makes it easier for tourists to cancel trips that have already been booked free of charge, but does not mean a travel ban.

Doctors' association sounds the alarm: health authorities are working to the limit

Original report from December 25th, 8.55 a.m.:

Berlin - The German Medical Association is sounding the alarm in the context of the Corona * pandemic.

The reason for concern is that the German health authorities are hardly able to keep up with their work, reports the dpa.

This also leads to gaps in contact tracing, said the federal chairman of the doctors of the public health service, Ute Teichert, the

.

Corona in Germany: health authorities completely overloaded

"At the moment there is almost no comprehensive follow-up any more," says Teichert.

Several countries such as Baden-Württemberg, Berlin and Hamburg have even completely suspended the search for contact persons.

It is assumed there that people inform themselves what to do in the event of a positive test result or risk exposure.

A spokeswoman for the Berlin health administration rejected Teichert's statement.

"The representation that Berlin is one of the federal states in which the health authorities no longer guarantee contact tracking in the context of the corona pandemic is incorrect," she emphasized.

“The Berlin health authorities carry out contact tracking in accordance with the guidelines of the RKI.

The Bundeswehr is also deployed in eight health offices. "

Doctors' Association: Health authorities cannot keep up with tracing contacts

Teichert told the

that the permanently tense situation in the health authorities was also exacerbating the shortage of staff.

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, in addition to fluctuation, I have also seen staff flee from the health authorities," said Teichert.

A comparatively poor pay is also to blame for this.

"There is a significant pay gap that makes working in the health department unattractive."

Green health politician Janosch Dahmen is concerned about the lack of contact tracking, especially with a view to the Omikron variant.

"It can spread rapidly without you noticing it in time," he told the

.

It is important that contact persons are informed and can be tested.

"If we do not notice early on that the actual number of cases is increasing, politicians will not be able to react appropriately," he warned.