Live: Breakthrough at the Corona summit!

Three-stage plan is coming - the big relaxation date is evident

Created: 02/16/2022Updated: 02/16/2022 4:21 p.m

By: Stephanie Munk

Chancellor Scholz and the prime ministers discuss the corona situation.

Massive loosening is on the agenda.

The obligation to vaccinate should be improved.

News ticker.

• Chancellor Olaf Scholz* (SPD) and the prime ministers of the federal states will discuss the corona situation in Germany at the federal-state summit on Wednesday, February 16th.

• Health Minister Karl Lauterbach comments on the recovered status in advance

  (update from February 16, 7:03 a.m.)

  .

• A draft resolution from the federal states provides for a possible adjustment

  (update from February 16, 9.35 a.m.).

• This

  news ticker for the Corona summit on Wednesday, February 16,

  is constantly updated.

Update from February 16, 3:55 p.m .:

In the deliberations on the current corona situation in the Prime Ministers’ Conference (MPK), there has now apparently been a first breakthrough.

According to

information, the federal and state governments have already agreed to implement the three-stage easing plan presented in the draft resolution.

The most important point: On March 20th, all “more profound protective measures” should be dropped.

By this date, it will be relaxed in three stages.

In contrast to the easing plan, however, the introduction of compulsory vaccination remains a controversial issue.

report suggests

, there is still a need for clarification between the countries, particularly with regard to the need for a vaccination register .

The negotiations at the Corona summit are likely to continue.

Update from February 16, 3:40 p.m .:

Shortly before the end of the Corona summit between the federal and state governments, changes in the recovered status are emerging.

In addition, the current draft resolution (status: 2 p.m.), which  is available on

 , also mentions a vaccination register and possible new travel regulations.

"The federal states consider it necessary to extend the convalescent status to six months or nine months for those who have been vaccinated twice," says the draft resolution.

With regard to the "need to introduce a general obligation to vaccinate", it is emphasized that a vaccination register is necessary for this.

According to the draft resolution, the federal states are pushing for a readjustment in view of the current situation in the case of corona-related travel restrictions: "The heads of government of the federal states are of the opinion that the federal government must urgently review and adapt the classification of the high-risk areas."

Update from February 16, 2:11 p.m

.: The health system was never overloaded in the Corona crisis.

At least that's what the Ministry of Health says in an answer to a request from the FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki.

According to

, it says : "A Germany-wide, regional simultaneous overload of all available ITS capacities, which would have meant a systemic undersupply of Covid-19 cases requiring intensive care or their strategic transfer abroad, did not occur."

Exciting: The request to the SPD-led ministry comes from an FDP politician, so the critical question comes from within your own government.

Actually, such inquiries to the federal government are mainly made by the opposition.

However, the inquiry also affects the time of GroKo retrospectively.

In any case, Kubicki now sees the answer as evidence that the corona measures should be lifted.

“This means that the main argument for the restrictions on fundamental rights is no longer applicable.

These must therefore be completely abolished by the constitution - including those that are defined as less intervention-intensive, for example the obligation to wear a mask," said the party deputy of the

.

The question is how high the burden on the clinics would have been if the restrictions in Germany had been looser.

The Ministry of Health writes: "One of the goals of the measures to combat the pandemic was and is to avoid overloading the health system."

Update from February 16, 11.45 a.m

.: The Corona summit is on.

The prime ministers have started their deliberations on easing the measures.

A press conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled for the afternoon.

Before the Corona summit: Discussions about the obligation to wear masks - more focus on schools

Update from February 16, 11:32 a.m

.: Most of the corona measures in Germany will end on March 20th.

In a draft resolution for the Corona summit on Tuesday evening, which is available on

*, it says: "By the beginning of spring on March 20, 2022, the far-reaching restrictions on social, cultural and economic life should be gradually withdrawn." "Basic protective measures", such as the obligation to wear a mask, for example on buses and trains.

Meanwhile, the Greens want to keep more measures.

"I firmly assume that we will need more than the mask requirement," said Greens Parliament Secretary Irene Mihalic.

As examples, she cited the obligation to test in certain facilities as well as in schools and daycare centers or distance and hygiene rules.

Mihalic pointed out that a corresponding regulation in the Infection Protection Act does not automatically mean that these measures will also be applied.

Rather, it is about a toolbox that the countries can fall back on if necessary.

The details are already being discussed at the specialist level.

Update from February 16, 10:50 a.m .:

In previous summits, measures in schools were often a long-standing issue.

Recently, this has receded more into the background at the Corona summits.

The Greens have now warned the federal and state governments against ignoring children and young people when discussing easing.

These "now need the solidarity and protection of society," Greens parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

"This applies to better support for psychosocial emergencies and depression and anxiety, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic."

Better support for parents and families is just as necessary when it comes to child sick pay and loss of earnings, said Hasselmann.

“The prime ministers' conference should also deal with the life situation and perspectives of children, young people and families.

We need more support and a safety perspective for children and young people.”

Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), in turn, warns of restraint with regard to the planned easing with regard to schools.

"We should still exercise caution in the schools in the coming weeks," she told the newspapers of the

.

"If we continue to test the students regularly and they wear masks at school, we can combine face-to-face teaching and infection protection well." This is also a contribution to equal opportunities.

"That's why we should stick to it for a few more weeks - until the infection situation allows relaxation in the education sector in a regionally differentiated manner." However, "low-threshold hygiene measures" in schools could still be necessary afterwards.

Corona summit: Changes in the recovered status possible

Update from February 16, 9.35 a.m .:

Do the federal and state governments agree on an adjustment of the recovered status at the Corona summit?

As

and

report, countries, apparently especially the union-led federal states, want a change.

A draft resolution from Tuesday evening at 9:45 p.m. shows that the convalescent status should be extended again to six months.

In the case of double-vaccinated people, the status may even last nine months.

There are no final decisions yet.

Update from February 16, 9.30 a.m .: 

There is an updated draft resolution for today’s prime minister’s conference on the corona situation*.

Accordingly, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the country heads want to relax even further than originally planned.

For example, contact restrictions for those who have recovered and those who have been vaccinated are to be completely abolished and no specific date is given for the introduction of compulsory nursing care vaccinations.

It remains to be seen whether the federal and state governments will agree to the draft resolution this Wednesday.

The shift begins at 11:30 a.m.

Before the Corona summit: the CDU calls for the convalescent status to be extended

Update from February 16, 9:21 a.m

.: The Union follows up in the debate about the corona recovery status

.

She wants to submit an application to the Bundestag "that provides for the re-extension of the convalescent status to 180 days".

That said parliamentary group leader Sepp Müller (CDU) to the

.

And further: "The transfer of competence for the duration of the recovered status to the RKI must be reversed."

Lauterbach wants to withdraw RKI power over corona recovery status

Update from February 16, 7:03 a.m

.: "I would like to make decisions myself and directly about far-reaching decisions such as the recovered status": Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wants the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) to have the competence to change the length of the corona recovered status, withdraw again.

That's what the SPD politician said in the

today, Wednesday.

"Otherwise I bear the political responsibility for the actions of others," Lauterbach continued in an interview with the newspaper.

The RKI was heavily criticized in mid-January for shortening the convalescent status.

Lauterbach had assured RKI boss Lothar Wieler of his trust.

The controversial shortening of the convalescent status should be reversed according to a draft resolution for the federal-state consultations that became known in advance

.

The paper contains a corresponding sentence on Lauterbach's concerns.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) © Frederic Kern/Imago

Corona summit: New rules, compulsory vaccination, "Freedom Day" - that's on the agenda

First report from February 15

: The consultations on the corona situation in Germany will enter a new round on Wednesday, February 16: Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss with the prime ministers of the federal states how to proceed in the corona pandemic.

But this time it is not about tightening, but about extensive easing of the measures to contain the corona virus *.

The federal and state governments provide a three-stage plan for the easing.

This emerges from a decision paper available on

*.

If the group agrees to this draft, there should be hardly any restrictions in some areas until March 20th, apart from a mask requirement.

The plans were hotly debated in advance.

Some urged caution, others - like the well-known virologist Klaus Stöhr, would rather relax faster.*

Corona summit on Wednesday: These relaxations are planned

The phased plan for loosening the corona virus provides that more contacts should be possible again at private meetings with immediate effect.

Vaccinated and recovered people should then meet 20 people at the same time instead of 10.

In addition, 2G is to fall in retail - where it hasn't already happened.

According to the draft resolution, the next easing step is due on March 4th: 3G instead of 2G should then apply in restaurants and hotels.

Even unvaccinated people with a current corona test could then go out to eat again and stay in hotels.

In addition, more spectators should be allowed at major events, up to 25,000 people.

From March 20th, all corona measures should then be dropped - except for the obligation to wear masks on buses and trains and indoors.

Corona summit on Wednesday: more leeway with compulsory vaccination

At the Corona summit on Wednesday, the Corona vaccination requirement* will also be discussed.

According to the draft resolution, the partial vaccination requirement for nursing staff should be adhered to.

There had been a lot of fuss about the vaccination requirement in recent weeks after Bavaria's Prime Minister Söder announced that he did not want to implement the vaccination requirement for the time being.

The federal and state government now wants to give the health authorities more leeway on how to deal with unvaccinated clinic and nursing staff.

An entry ban should represent the last step.

Are the Corona measures coming to an end?

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (centre) at the federal-state summit in December.

© Michael Kappeler/dpa

Corona summit on Wednesday: Recovered status is newly regulated

With the recovered status, another exciting topic is discussed at the Corona summit with the federal and state governments.

The recovered status was surprisingly shortened to 90 days in mid-January.

The protest was huge, and there is still confusion about how long one is considered recovered.

At the Prime Minister's Conference, the RKI is apparently to be deprived of the sole decision-making power over the recovered status.

A gossip for Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach - who is currently criticized for several points anyway.

After all, the SPD politician was now also the bearer of good news: on the day before the Corona summit, Lauterbach said that he considered the omicron wave to be broken and wanted to support the easing that was to be voted on at the federal-state summit.