Corona concern in Bavaria is increasing: authorities are preparing for the worst-case scenario

Created: 01/14/2022, 09:50

By: Katarina Amtmann, Dirk Walter, Tanja Kipke, Katharina Haase

The corona numbers in the Free State are increasing rapidly thanks to Omikron.

An industry feels disadvantaged by the Corona restrictions imposed by the Söder government.

• According to the Ministry of the Interior, the Bundestag rule 2G plus is not legal for local councils (see update from January 12, 5:13 p.m.).

• The incidences continue to shoot up (see update from January 13, 6:28 a.m.).

• Teachers' Association BLLV calls on Söder to act immediately (see update from January 13, 10:59 a.m.).

• This news ticker is updated regularly.

Update from January 13, 1:34 p.m .:

Authorities and municipalities in Bavaria have prepared nationwide with Omikron emergency plans for possible mass illnesses in the workforce. The aim is to be able to continue operations even if many employees become infected with the highly contagious variant of the corona virus at the same time. This emerges from the answers from the Ministry of the Interior and the city administrations of Munich and Nuremberg.

The police, fire brigades, hospitals, municipal utilities and other facilities are currently converting to fixed shift models and other measures to reduce potentially infectious contacts.

Where possible, work from home is used, and tests are carried out as often as possible.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior in Munich lists the measures taken by the Bavarian police.

This includes, among other things, "the formation of cohorts of the same persons in the military service" - which means that the same officers are always on duty together as far as possible.

The conversion from flexible to rigid layer models serves the same purpose.

Corona concern in Bavaria is increasing: the teachers' association BLLV calls on Söder to act immediately

Update from January 13, 10:59 a.m .:

With a view to the corona pandemic and its consequences for the schools, the teachers’ association BLLV has urged Prime Minister and CSU boss Markus Söder to act immediately and made seven demands. The expectations of the students' performance would have to be lowered, the prerequisites for comprehensive digital learning created and fair examination conditions created, as the President of the Bavarian Teachers' Association (BLLV), Simone Fleischmann, wrote in an open letter published on Thursday.

There also needs to be clear guidelines for teaching in the school buildings: “Guideline values ​​must apply for the level of incidence, air quality (ventilation systems, CO2 traffic lights), vaccination rate, number of quarantine cases in the individual class/at the school, room situation at the School and current supply of teachers in the college,” listed Fleischmann.

All available measures would also have to be implemented consistently.

The school administrations should also be given more time to organize - and more skills so that they can react to the teacher shortage in many places with tailor-made emergency solutions.

Bavaria's corona incidences are making a huge leap - especially in Munich and the surrounding area

Update from January 13, 6:28 a.m .:

The incidence in Bavaria is 420.2 on Thursday (previous day: 375.1), as can be seen from the RKI dashboard (as of 3:22 a.m.). The district of Ebersberg (671.8) has the highest value in Bavaria, followed by the city of Munich (645.3; for comparison: 596.8 the day before) and the district of Erding (635.0). The lowest incidences are in the districts of Coburg (171.0) and Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz (165.6).

Update from January 12, 5:13 p.m.:

The application of the strict 2G plus rule as in the Bundestag would not be possible in the Bavarian local parliaments. A 3G or 3G plus arrangement is justifiable for city and local councils, the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior explained to the

. “A 2G or 2G Plus rule would, however, disproportionately restrict the exercise of mandates and the right to participate in meetings.” In the Bundestag, 2G plus has applied to all MPs and their employees since Wednesday. In Bavaria, however, it should be taken into account that municipal elected officials not only have a right to participate, but an obligation to participate, according to municipal laws. This makes it difficult, for example, to exclude recovered but unvaccinated councillors.

Culture feels disadvantaged by Söder's corona restrictions

Update from January 12, 11:39 a.m .:

The cultural industry feels disadvantaged by the government around Markus Söder in the corona restrictions.

A specific point of criticism is that 2G applies in gastronomy, but 2G Plus continues to apply to the cultural sector.

"We can only evaluate it in such a way that the statement 'Bavaria is a cultural state' is an empty shell: beer comes before culture," said Daniela Aue from the board of the Association of Independent Performing Arts in Bavaria (VfdKB) to the German Press Agency in Munich (see previous update).

Has the criticism been heard?

"Apparently, the state government convened a round table with the cultural industry at very short notice for today," reports Achim Wendler, Editor-in-Chief of State Politics at

on twitter.

It should be about the "contradiction" between 2G Plus for culture and 2G for gastronomy.

Even Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger spoke of a “certain discrepancy” on Tuesday.

Criticism of Corona rules in the theater: "Beer comes before culture"

Update from January 12, 9:18 a.m .:

The Association of Free Performing Arts in Bavaria (VfdKB) sees culture at a severe disadvantage in the corona restrictions, especially compared to gastronomy. "We can only judge that the statement 'Bavaria is a cultural state' is an empty shell: beer comes before culture," said Daniela Aue from the board of the Association of German Press Agency in Munich. She criticized a decision by the Bavarian cabinet that the 2G rule (vaccinated or recovered) should continue to apply in bars. At cultural events, on the other hand, those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered must also be tested, and only 25 percent of the places may be occupied.

Aue considers this unequal treatment to be incomprehensible.

"We have good and functioning hygiene concepts, the theaters have effective ventilation concepts.

The latter in particular are certainly not available in gastronomy and guests often sit very close together there," she criticized - and sees this as a "fatal sign with fatal consequences".

The signal is sent out that the risk of infection at cultural events is high, and these are avoided as a result.

This would jeopardize the livelihoods of cultural workers.

Criticism of the Söder government: "Hard, unfair and incomprehensible restrictions on culture"

The SPD parliamentary group leader Florian von Brunn made a similar statement. "The excessively harsh, unfair and incomprehensible restrictions on culture are a threat to the very existence," said the politician. "In contrast to the catering industry, the cultural sector did not receive an additional gift such as the reduction in VAT. Apparently the culture of this state government doesn't really matter."

Andreas Schessl, managing director of the concert organizer Münchenmusik, is also pushing for more spectators to be admitted to events such as theaters or concerts.

That is why he has also filed a lawsuit with the Bavarian Administrative Court to defend himself against the restriction to 25 percent of the audience capacity.

It is incomprehensible why culture is again forcing a special sacrifice.

When visiting a restaurant before or after a performance, everyone can sit at one table, but in the theater, distance and masks are mandatory.

"We are committed to equal treatment and also demand this from the state government."

Seven-day incidence in Bavaria continues to rise

Update from January 12, 6.30 a.m .:

The seven-day incidence in Bavaria continues to rise, as it does throughout Germany.

According to official information from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), on Wednesday it was 375.1 at 3:20 a.m.

On Tuesday it was still 329.5.

The Ebersberg district now has the highest incidence with 635.7, followed by the state capital Munich with 596.8.

The districts of Starnberg (565.1), Ostallgäu (540.5), Erding (540) and Munich (536.2) are now in the “pink area” of the districts with an incidence of over 500. There are also the urban areas of Würzburg (530.1) and Regensburg (509.6).

The district of Wunsiedel has the lowest incidence with 141.7.

If this continues, the first 1000m hotspots will soon be in lockdown.

Corona in Bavaria: hospital traffic lights abolished - incidence is increasing

Overall, the RKI reported 12,561 new infections in Bavaria within 24 hours and 51 other deaths. There are now around 87,900 active Covid cases in Bavaria. More than 20,000 people have already died as a result of the virus in Bavaria. The so-called hospital traffic light - originally introduced to replace the incidence as the decisive value for rule adjustment - has no longer been included in the latest ordinance of the state government. According to current values, it would no longer be red, but yellow. In view of the drastically increasing number of infections due to the omicron variant, however, there are probably no easing in sight.

First report from January 11th, 8 p.m.:

Munich – Prime Minister Markus Söder* (CSU) and his cabinet on Tuesday (January 11th) decided new corona regulations for the Free State. Bavaria is going its own way with regard to the 2Gplus rule in the catering trade. Meanwhile, the highly contagious omicron variant is becoming more and more popular in Bavaria. “Omicron is growing. We are currently not experiencing a turnaround for the better," said Head of State Florian Herrmann (CSU) on Tuesday in Munich.

By the end of 2021, a falling incidence* was evident in Bavaria, and now there is a strong upward trend, he emphasized.

As of this Tuesday, it is 339.5 nationwide - in three districts in Bavaria it is even over 500. "Omikron is establishing itself as a variant," says Herrmann.

Nationwide, about 43 percent of the detected infections are suspected or confirmed omicron cases. 

Corona in Bavaria: Hotspot lockdown regulation soon in force again?

The city of Würzburg and Munich*, as well as the district of Starnberg, currently have an incidence of over 500.

A week ago, the incidence in the state capital was 216.9.

If the numbers double again next week, Munich will soon exceed the lockdown limit.

With an incidence of 1000, a region is considered a hotspot and must go into regional lockdown. Then stricter corona measures apply, gastronomy as well as sports and cultural institutions would have to close, for example. "In just a few days, some regions of Bavaria will probably slip above the 1000 incidence," said Klaus Josef Lutz, President of the Bavarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BIHK) on Tuesday in Munich. He therefore calls for higher incidence limits.

The economy hopes that the state government will make appropriate changes and adjustments to the hotspot regulation at the latest at the next cabinet meeting, said Lutz.

“If politicians do not act, restaurateurs, hoteliers and operators of cultural, leisure and sports facilities including cable cars across the country are threatened with closure.

That would be fatal and would put numerous entrepreneurs in distress.”

(By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you about all the important stories from Bavaria. Register here.)

Video: Corona update for Bavaria - new quarantine and gastro rules

The following tightening threatens districts with an incidence of over 1000

If a district in Bavaria exceeds the incidence limit of 1000, the so-called “regional hotspot lockdown” applies according to the 15th Bavarian Infection Protection Measures Ordinance. The following facilities then have to close:

•  Sports halls, sports fields, fitness studios, dance schools and other sports facilities.

• catering establishments of all kinds.

• Hotels, accommodation establishments, school camps, youth hostels, campsites and all other commercial or paid accommodation.

• libraries and archives.

• Museums, exhibitions, memorials, objects of the Bavarian administration of state palaces, gardens and lakes and comparable cultural sites.

  
  
  

  Theatres, operas, concert halls, cinemas, stages and similar facilities as well as zoological and botanical gardens.

• Amusement parks and comparable stationary leisure facilities.

• Companies that offer services where physical proximity to the customer is essential.

In addition, there would no longer be any face-to-face events at universities, with the exception of exams.

In retail, it must also be ensured that only one customer is allowed to enter the store on 20 square meters.

If the incidences continue to rise so rapidly, there will actually be several regions above the 1000 lockdown limit in about a week.

It remains to be seen whether the state government will announce a rule change before then.