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Opposition leader Merz: "This is about messed-up compromises"
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has canceled his previous announcement that the isolation of corona infected people would be voluntary from May 1st.
After a corresponding statement in the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”, the minister admitted a mistake on Twitter.
There is now clear criticism from the opposition.
The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz said on Deutschlandfunk that Lauterbach's change of course shows how "short of breath" the current government is.
Decisions are not even valid for 48 hours.
Lauterbach had previously announced on Twitter that ending the mandatory isolation for corona infected people "in favor of voluntariness would be wrong and will not come about".
Such a measure relieves the health authorities, but sends the wrong and harmful signal.
Corona is not a cold.
"The mistake was mine and has nothing to do with the FDP or relaxation," Lauterbach wrote.
Approval from the German Foundation for Patient Protection
The board of directors of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, was more lenient.
It is good that the Federal Minister of Health has recognized his mistake and wants to maintain the obligation to isolate infected people, said Brysch.
The isolation obligation of an infected person is different than the quarantine of a contact person.
»Infected people infect other people with the virus and endanger the immunocompromised people who live among us.
Corona is not a cold.«
Merz opposes compulsory vaccination from the age of 60
However, Merz rejected a new proposal by members of the traffic light coalition for compulsory vaccination from the age of 60.
“This type of politics – in and out, back and forth, announcing on talk shows what you do and what you don’t do two days later – we don’t go that route,” said Merz.
"This is about messed-up compromises that the coalition has to make because they don't agree among themselves."
Most recently, proposals from various working groups from various groups and parties were on the table, including:
A general vaccination requirement from the age of 18, limited until the end of 2023 (supported by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach)
a combination of compulsory advice for everyone over the age of 18 and compulsory vaccination for those over 50 from September
a "vaccination mechanism" in three stages (from 60, from 50 and employees of critical infrastructure, daycare centers, schools, police) depending on an aggravation of the corona situation (a proposal by Union MPs)
the refusal to vaccinate
None of the proposals recently had a chance of gaining a majority, which is why the supporters of compulsory vaccination from 18, behind which most parliamentarians had gathered, made a last-minute compromise attempt.
The application should be significantly toned down.
According to this, the obligation to vaccinate should initially apply to people over the age of 50 from September, unvaccinated younger people should only prove that they have had a consultation.
The Bundestag is scheduled to vote on the proposals on Thursday.
fek/dpa
