Before the Corona summit: Zoff about easing

Created: 2022-01-22Updated: 2022-01-22 10:22 am

By: Tobias Utz

Chancellor Olaf Scholz will lead the Corona summit on Monday.

(Archive photo) © Florian Gärtner/Photothek/Imago Images

A new Corona summit is imminent: the central topic remains the omicron wave in Germany.

What is discussed in advance - the situation in the news ticker.

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Rainer Haseloff, Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, called for new easing before the Corona summit.

“Basically, it is important to remember that the federal government has ended the pandemic situation of national importance.

This means that we - nationally speaking - are back in normal waters.

Politicians have significantly fewer opportunities to make restrictions," said the CDU politician of the world on Sunday.

Haseloff told the newspaper that politics could “not keep tightening up all the time” and “restrict fundamental rights”.

Relaxation is necessary in order not to lose “the support of the population”.

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach had previously warned against easing restrictions (see update from 6.30 a.m.).

Corona summit: Lauterbach warns of easing

Update from Saturday, January 22nd, 2022, 6:30 a.m.:

In the run-up to the Corona summit, Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach spoke out in favor of maintaining the current measures and rules.

When asked by the Rheinische Post whether tightening of the rules could be decided on Monday, Lauterbach said: “No, I don’t advise that.

I am in favor of maintaining the existing measures, i.e. not expanding them.”

Minister Karl Lauterbach at the federal press conference.

(Archive photo) © Stefan Boness/IPON/Imago Images

However, there should also be no relaxation of the corona virus in Germany.

"We would pour oil on the fire and accelerate the wave," said the Federal Minister of Health.

Corona summit: are there new rules?

+++ 4.45 p.m .:

So far there is no draft resolution for the Corona summit on Monday (01/24/2022). However, numerous topics related to the pandemic, including mandatory vaccination and prioritizing PCR tests, are already being discussed. However, a media report now suggests that it is unlikely that new corona rules will be decided at the summit.

According to a report by Business Insider magazine, no new corona tightening is planned. The information apparently comes from government circles. Instead, the current corona regulations, including strict contact restrictions for the unvaccinated, should continue to apply. However, it is unclear whether the federal states will respond to the federal plans. Calls for easing have already been heard from several countries. Above all, an adjustment of the corona rules, which are based on the spread of the delta variant, to the circulating omicron variant is required.

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In the run-up to the Corona summit, Markus Söder again emphasized how important it was to adapt the measures.

At a press conference on Friday afternoon, the Bavarian Prime Minister said: "Delta management cannot be taken over like this."

Markus Söder proposes the 2G Plus model at sporting events.

(Archive photo) © Frank Hörmann/Sven Simon/Imago Images

In addition, Söder pushed for a common line from the federal and state governments at sporting events: As a solution, he proposed a nationwide 2G Plus model, as in the catering trade.

"It cannot be that there are significantly more spectators in Hamburg, for example," said Söder.

He wants to advertise to a larger audience at the Prime Ministers' Conference (MPK) on Monday, for example in the Bundesliga.

Corona Summit: Rules in the “Omicron Check”?

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Before the Corona summit on Monday, the CSU * called for the Corona rules to be reviewed in view of the new Omicron wave.

"It is true that the fundamentals are changing with Omikron," said CSU General Secretary Markus Blume in the daily newspaper Welt.

"We need an omicron check for corona management in Germany", whereby the MPK could be an "important milestone".

Blume explained that after the administrative court's decision to suspend 2G in retail, Bavaria wanted to continue allowing unvaccinated people access to shops. "We'll leave it like that," said Blume. "That belongs in the category: fewer daily restrictions on a small scale, but a clear line on compulsory vaccination for everyone." He reiterated the Union's demand that the federal government have to submit a legislative proposal in the debate about general vaccination instead of the members of the Bundestag to leave. The omicron variant of the coronavirus is significantly more contagious than previous variants. Preliminary studies have shown, however, that infected people do not have to go to the hospital and die as often as the Delta variant. However, experts warnthat the exploding number of infections in Germany could nevertheless lead to an overload in the clinics.

Corona summit: "We must not let the pandemic slip away"

Update from Friday, January 21, 2022, 8 a.m.:

Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil spoke out against further easing of the corona measures.

"We must not let the pandemic slip away, that's why we need further precautionary measures," said Weil on Friday in the ARD "Morgenmagazin".

Despite the high incidence of corona, he does not believe that a return to a “total lockdown” is necessary because the situation has “changed”.

Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil at the lectern: In the run-up to the Corona summit, he warns of easing the pandemic.

(Archive photo) © Matthey/Fotostand/Imago Images

Weil criticized the considerable vaccination gap in the German population.

"If we really want to protect ourselves, we need a very high vaccination rate in society as a whole and we will not be able to do that at the pace we are now at." It is noticeable "that the vaccination dynamic has slowed down significantly in the new year “.

He didn't want to know anything about a so-called contamination of the population as an exit from the pandemic.

"I think that's a bit cynical, too.

At the same time, infection also means that a larger number of people will actually end up in intensive care units and many will die.” From the beginning, the goal of politics was to prevent such a situation.

Corona summit: This is what the federal and state governments are planning

First report from Thursday, January 20th, 2022, 9 a.m.:

Berlin – Germany is in the middle of an omicron wave.

The Corona case numbers * reach a new record every day.

On several days, the number of new infections was already over 100,000.

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach* expects the wave to peak in mid-February.

In order to discuss Germany's further strategy in the pandemic, the federal and state governments will again discuss this at a corona summit on Monday.

Various topics come into focus.

So far there is no draft resolution from the summit meeting, but several issues are emerging -

Corona summit: This is what the federal and state governments are planning

• Corona tests:

  Carsten Breuer, Major General and head of the Corona crisis team*, made a similar statement.

  According to Breuer, people from the critical infrastructure should be given priority.

  The Patient Protection Foundation also demanded that millions of vulnerable people and their relatives should have priority in the PCR tests to determine a corona infection.

  Eugen Brysch, chairman of the foundation, criticized the news agency AFP on Wednesday that Lauterbach “only wanted to give preference to employees in the tests”.

  "This means that the seriously ill and those in need of care and their contact persons are no longer covered by the protective shield."

• Contact tracing of the health authorities:

  In addition, the contact tracing of the health authorities should be discussed at the Corona summit.

  Franziska Giffey, Berlin's governing mayor, has recently pushed for new corona rules in this area.

  In particular, it must be clarified where contact tracing still makes sense so that health authorities can “work more focused” and at the same time be relieved.

  She called for nationwide uniform regulations.

• Corona loosening:

  New corona loosening should also be discussed. Markus Söder*, Bavaria's Prime Minister, recently focused on the topic. At the Corona summit, he wanted to discuss nationwide rules for a possible opening of the stadiums for Bundesliga games and talk about expanding audience capacities at cultural events, as he told our editorial team.

• Corona vaccination obligation:

  A possible general corona vaccination obligation also causes discussions.

  A rapid debate in the Bundestag is aimed for.

  According to Chancellor Olaf Scholz*, group applications should be discussed across parliamentary groups.

  At the Corona summit, too, a unified line on the subject should be struggled for.

  Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach explained to Markus Lanz again on Wednesday evening how necessary he considers general corona vaccination in Germany to be.

(do with AFP/dpa/rtr)