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Photo: Felix Kästle / dpa
Before the federal and state consultations on the corona situation on Monday, several prime ministers are in favor of maintaining the current containment measures. Hamburg's Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) does not expect any relaxation at the meeting of the heads of government with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Monday, but "a confirmation of the current strategy and the measures already taken in Hamburg, such as the FFP2 mask requirement in local public transport and that nationwide 2G-plus access model," explained Vice Senate spokeswoman Julia Offen.
In addition, the test and quarantine strategy must be adjusted.
The omicron variant leads to an extremely high number of new infections, said Offen.
»The effects on the health system are not yet foreseeable in some countries.
This requires an adapted test and quarantine strategy in order to use the capacities of laboratories and health authorities in a targeted manner.« Prioritization of the evaluation of PCR tests is under discussion.
Health ministers will advise at the weekend
For example, according to the considerations of the federal and state health ministers, free tests from the quarantine should no longer be carried out with PCR tests, but only with certified rapid antigen tests.
They want to discuss it at a conference this weekend.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) then wants to draw up a draft resolution for the federal and state governments.
According to Lauterbach, priority should be given to employees in the healthcare sector, for example, to be tested with PCR tests.
Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) also rejected relaxing the measures.
Weil warned in the ARD "Morgenmagazin": "We must not let the pandemic slip away, that's why we need further precautionary measures." Despite the high incidence of corona, a return to a "total lockdown" is not necessary in his view.
Bavaria's head of government Markus Söder (CSU) said it made no sense to tighten up measures, but they shouldn't be ended either.
According to a report by the magazine "Business Insider", the federal government is also committed to continuing the previous line and does not want to propose any new tightening of the rules on Monday.
Instead, the current requirements should continue to apply for the time being.
Contact tracing becomes more difficult
Saxony Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) pointed out in the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND) that the health authorities in some federal states could no longer trace the contacts of corona infected people.
“The countries that are particularly affected must explain whether they need further protective measures and whether the Infection Protection Act needs to be changed again so that everyone has the tools they need to fight the pandemic,” he said.
That will determine the debate on Monday.
According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Friday, the city states currently have the highest seven-day incidences: In Berlin and Bremen the value is just under 1260, in Hamburg it is a good 1220. The RKI gave the national average 706.3 on, down from 638.8 on Thursday.
According to the German Hospital Society (DKG), the burden on the normal wards has increased enormously in regions with high numbers of omicron infections.
"Looking at the numbers, the load in the intensive care unit seems to decrease, but the load on the normal ward remains high or even increases significantly," said CEO Gerald Gass to the RND newspapers.
He also told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Saturday edition) that staff shortages are “currently a much bigger problem than in normal years”.
According to the newspaper, in a quick survey by the DKG, almost three quarters of the clinics reported higher staff shortages than is usual at this time of year.
The tense infection situation is also heating up the debate about face-to-face teaching in schools again.
Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) does not expect any new restrictions from the federal-state group.
"There is great agreement to keep the schools open," she told the "Passauer Neue Presse".
mfh/AFP