Was Soeder right?

Loosening ditch across the traffic lights - Lindner openly doubts the "basic protection"

Created: 02/20/2022, 21:20

By: Florian Naumann

Was this also about Corona?

Markus Söder, Karl Lauterbach, Christian Lindner (from left) and colleagues at the federal presidential election.

© Political Moments/www.imago-images.de

What comes after Freedom Day?

The traffic light is divided when it comes to basic corona protection.

The FDP could worry Olaf Scholz - as suspected by CSU boss Markus Söder.

Berlin – Markus Söder had recently doubted the power of Chancellor Olaf Scholz * (SPD) within the coalition – and fixed that on the topic of Corona *: Whether the head of government could do a corona “basic protection” after March 19th, Bavaria’s Prime Minister left the last one Corona summit is said to be undecided *.

And the taunt could actually come true: It looks as if there is a kind of loosening ditch between the FDP on the one hand and the SPD and Greens on the other side of the traffic light coalition.

Liberals want an end to all blanket measures after Freedom Day*.

The Greens still have a "tool box" ready to fight the pandemic.

And the SPD?

Minister Karl Lauterbach already has Minister Karl Lauterbach as a reminder in their ranks.

However, it still seems unclear how far apart the positions are apart from the general and rather vague rhetoric of opening up and caution.

Corona dispute in the traffic light?

Greens want to continue "instrument box" - Lauterbach also warns

One thing is clear: the SPD and the Greens do not want to be seen as drivers of the proverbial “opening orgies”*.

Green* parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann emphasized in the

newspapers: “The pandemic does not end on a deadline.” The countries should be able to react to possible deterioration at short notice.

"It is important to us that municipalities, cities and federal states remain able to act in pandemic management in order to secure openings." She told the AFP news agency that "a suitable toolbox of protective measures" was necessary.

SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich pleaded for maintaining effective measures for the period after the previous regulations expire.

"We have to provide measures that no longer massively intervene in the life of the individual," he said.

"The mask - especially the FFP2 mask - seems to be a proven means of preventing infection in public spaces." The question of testing will also play a special role.

"We have to protect vulnerable groups and the hospitals." "And we need rules for hotspots so that countries can react appropriately to a sudden outbreak."

Lauterbach warned in view of the increase in the Omicron variant BA.2, which is likely to spread more quickly, on Twitter on Sunday against opening too quickly beyond the latest federal and state decisions.

This would unnecessarily lengthen the omicron wave and cost unnecessary casualties, he wrote.

However, a study on the dangers of the omicron variant* made the minister cautiously optimistic.

Corona loosening in Germany: Lindner doubts "basic protection" - "first respect fundamental rights"

The mood among the Liberals is completely different - party leader Christian Lindner even dislikes the key word of the whole debate, as he explained in the ARD "Report from Berlin": "That's why I don't like to use the word basic protection measure - our constitutional order applies.

And here it applies first and foremost that fundamental rights must be respected and that the state only intervenes where it is really necessary, where there really is a risk." what is not required?”

The designated FDP * Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai called for the end of all blanket measures.

One should not "permanently, so to speak, in reserve, repeatedly extend such freedom-restricting measures," he warned in the

.

If the infection process changes again substantially, the Bundestag is “capable of action at any time”.

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr again refused to allow broader restrictions on fundamental rights.

Traffic light Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) was a little more cautious: he advocated a narrow limitation of future measures.

“At the moment, only measures that are highly effective and have a low intervention intensity seem conceivable to me.

In particular, these could be test strategies and the obligation to wear masks in special situations," he told the

.

Söder thinks of schools in the Corona crisis - and wants "tests and masks"

The FDP is quite open to basic protection, for example for old people's and nursing homes, Dürr said on the ZDF program "Berlin direkt".

“I only have the feeling that some CDU and CSU prime ministers actually want to reconnect so-called basic protection through the back door with strong corona protection measures.”

He could also have meant Söder.

Bavaria's Prime Minister called for protection for schools in particular at the weekend.

"Only tests and masks enable our students to have safe face-to-face lessons," he told the Funke Group newspapers.

"Our children should be able to complete the school year and the final exams without worry and pressure." In areas where contacts are unavoidable, the state must guarantee the right balance in basic protection.

For nationwide uniform mask rules in long-distance transport, he is waiting “for proposals from the Federal Minister of Transport”, said Söder to the address of the FDP politician Volker Wissing.

Corona openings?

Prime Ministers agreed at the summit - clear expert advice statement

The protective measures in force to date expire nationwide on March 19.

In order to maintain “basic protection”, certain measures should continue to apply according to the will of the federal states – such as the obligation to wear masks on buses and trains.

Apparently all 16 countries were in favor of this option at the most recent MPK.

The government's expert council had spoken out in favor of forward-looking opening strategies and emphasized: "The duration of this new phase of the pandemic depends on numerous factors, such as the vaccination rate and the spread of new virus variants, and can therefore not be precisely predicted." This will exist by autumn at the latest Risk of renewed waves of infection.

The nationwide seven-day incidence of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants has fallen slightly again.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, the value was 1346.3 on Sunday morning.

On Saturday it was 1350.4, on Sunday a week ago it was 1466.5.

The number of new infections recorded within 24 hours was 118,032 on Sunday morning.

According to the RKI, 73 new deaths related to the corona virus were also recorded.

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