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Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer
Photo: Robert Michael / dpa
The federal and state governments will meet on Friday to discuss how to contain the rapidly spreading Omikron variant.
If Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) has his way, there are still openings instead of shutdowns.
In the Free State, according to SPIEGEL information, a lot is to be reopened, but under 2G or 2G-Plus rules.
This means that the unvaccinated remain largely excluded from public life.
The obligation to test should not be required for boosters.
Saxony is one of the federal states most severely affected by the current corona wave, the vaccination rate is particularly low.
Bars and clubs as well as cinemas and museums have been closed permanently for several weeks, restaurants have to close at 8 p.m.
Hotels are not allowed to offer private overnight stays.
Kretschmer is planning a new regulation from January 14th.
The final decision should only be made after the federal-state conference on Friday.
Cinemas and museums will then be reopened, while the restrictions will remain in place for bars and discos.
The 8 p.m. rule does not apply to restaurants.
Indoor sport is also permitted again under the 2G Plus regulation.
For services close to the body, 2G (vaccinated or recovered) should be the prerequisite, for the hairdresser 3G (vaccinated, recovered or tested).
Saxony wants to allow large demonstrations again
The right of assembly is also being relaxed: Currently, a maximum of ten people are allowed to come together at a fixed location for a demonstration, and soon the upper limit will again be a thousand people.
On Wednesday, the Saxon state parliament rejected the lifting of the existing restrictions on meetings in the corona pandemic.
The AfD remained isolated with a corresponding motion.
In Saxony, opponents of the corona policy have been taking to the streets in several places in protests disguised as "walks" for weeks.
There are repeated attacks on the police; right-wing extremists first call for "walks" online.
Most recently, several people were injured in riots in Lichtenstein near Zwickau on Monday, and demonstrators broke through a police cordon in Freiberg.
A week earlier, protests had escalated in Bautzen, this week around a thousand people had gathered in the small Saxon town.
Omikron on the advance in the Free State
As in the rest of the country, the number of infections with the new Omikron corona variant is also increasing in Saxony.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), 54 cases have now been detected in the Free State.
There are also 357 suspected cases.
The seven-day incidence has risen again above the value of 300 - it is currently 315.3.
On Wednesday it was still at 287.9 and on Tuesday at 287.5.
The regional tourism association and the hotel and restaurant association had recently warned that the current shutdown was almost impossible to cope with.
The winter season in the Ore Mountains is also suffering a lot.
Both associations had insisted on relaxation and financial support.
mrc / stw