Southwest puts pressure on: it must be possible to wear masks
Created: 06/21/2022Updated: 06/21/2022 1:59 p.m
Winfried Kretschmann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg.
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
The Corona situation may also be manageable in autumn, says the Minister of Health in Stuttgart.
If politicians can react in time with compulsory masks and the like.
But the traffic light must quickly lay the foundations for this - even against the will of the liberals.
Stuttgart – Baden-Württemberg, together with other federal states, is pushing for quick precautions for an impending corona wave in autumn and is demanding a word of power from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the dispute with the FDP.
"It must be very clear that we will no longer let the FDP dance around on our noses," said Health Minister Manne Lucha (Greens) of the German Press Agency.
"Now a federal political word of power has to be spoken." The traffic light must present an amendment to the Infection Protection Act with stricter protective measures before the summer break.
SPD and Greens would have to assert themselves against the coalition partner.
"The FDP is not our yardstick when it comes to fighting the pandemic, but the responsible handling of people's health."
From masks to 2G: countries want to be prepared for a new wave
Lucha, together with the Union-led states of Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, wants to bring about a resolution at the conference of health ministers in Magdeburg that will ask the federal government to get down to business quickly.
This is necessary in order to be able to react to an increase in infections in autumn with suitable countermeasures.
"These include, in particular, the obligation to wear masks indoors, 3G/2G access rules, test obligations, upper limits for people and contact restrictions," says the proposal from the four countries, which is available to the German Press Agency.
Kretschmann appeals to the "practical common sense" of the FDP
Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) supported Lucha's announcement to the federal government.
"It is a matter of practical common sense to fill the instrument case fully," he said in Stuttgart on Tuesday.
"I mean, the fire brigade doesn't work in such a way that they only order the hoses when they see the size of the fire." Before the summer break, the federal government must agree with the federal states on which measures are possible.
"Of course I want to have everything, including the possibility of curfews," said Kretschmann.
But it is foreseeable that the Liberals would not go along with it.
Minister of Education Theresa Schopper (Greens) would like the traffic light to allow masks to be worn in schools again.
When the testing capabilities expired in September,
Lauterbach is certain: there will be no coalition drama
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), however, relies on rapid communication at traffic lights.
With a view to the report by a council of experts on the previous arrangements expected at the end of June, he said on Tuesday in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”: “I think we will get a good commission report.
We will then come to an agreement very quickly.
The drama that everyone is waiting for will not happen.” Lauterbach went on to say: “And so we will be much better prepared for the winter than one or the other now suspects.” However, the first conflicts are already foreseeable.
Most recently, FDP Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann expressed skepticism about the reintroduction of a mask requirement if the corona infections continue to rise sharply.
Lucha and Kretschmann rely on preventive measures
Lucha wants to be prepared so that large parts of public life do not have to be closed in the event of a major outbreak.
“We want to be able to react in good time to prevent economic, social, cultural and, above all, school life from coming to a complete standstill again.
So these are purely preventive measures.” Kretschmann added that it is not currently expected that the pandemic will get out of hand in the fall.
"We don't want to create any uncertainty or panic.
It is not foreseeable that we will overload the healthcare system.” Unless new virus mutants appear.
"We're not assuming that for now."
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Despite rising incidences, the minister does not yet see a summer wave - unlike Lauterbach.
“We have an increased incidence of infection due to the changed virus variants and because people are more mobile again and have more contacts.” However, the health system is not yet under any greater strain than in the past few weeks.
"I wouldn't use the word wave just yet," said the state minister.
When individual doctors warned of a health emergency in the fall, that was an exaggeration.
"Our experts, with whom we are in constant contact, say: If we do the right thing, we can control the situation."
FDP: Lucha paints "horror paintings"
FDP parliamentary group leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke accused the Green politician of “scaremongering” about the extension of the Infection Protection Act.
"He just has to accept that he has nothing to report in Berlin," said the liberal.
"It was the FDP that was right with its situation assessment in April and made sure that people got their freedom rights back because the current situation also allows it." Rülke pointed out that there were almost no more serious cases in the give clinics.
"Lucha's horror paintings were fake news."
Free tests only when visiting clinics and homes
In addition to the protective measures, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse and NRW are calling for the test regulation to be "appropriately" extended beyond the end of June.
Lucha explained: “The random testing of people without symptoms is not correct at the moment.” The draft decision of the federal states therefore states: “There is still a need for free and unbureaucratic testing options, in particular to protect the environment of facilities for vulnerable people and groups." dpa
