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Department in Saxony (archive picture)
Photo: Jan Woitas / dpa
Does Germany threaten the next pandemic winter with tough restrictions and closings?
After the advance of the Netherlands, a possible further lockdown is also being discussed in the Federal Republic.
Now the Green health politician Janosch Dahmen brought such a step into play after the holidays because of the spread of the Omikron variant.
“We have to get ahead of the omicron wave with our measures.
Our actions today will determine tomorrow's pandemic situation, "he told the dpa news agency.
Dahmen continues: “In view of the extremely high transferability of Omikron, we will probably not be able to avoid a lockdown after Christmas.
One possible scenario would be a well-planned lockdown in early January. "
For Christmas there is an urgent appeal to celebrate with a small family group.
"In order to be able to resolve all the necessary measures against Omikron, the Bundestag and Bundesrat will have to meet again in the foreseeable future and create the conditions for this," said Dahmen.
The federal and state governments will discuss the further course on Tuesday.
The Federal Government's Expert Council had previously warned of a dramatic situation because of Omikron.
In the Netherlands, a hard lockdown came into effect on Sunday in view of the rapidly spreading Omikron variant.
Almost all shops, restaurants, cultural and sports facilities have been closed, schools and hairdressers also remain closed.
Supermarkets and pharmacies are excluded.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) spoke out on Sunday against a lockdown before Christmas in Germany.
However, he said on the ARD: “But it really is like this: We will get a fifth wave.” “We have now exceeded a critical number of Omicron infected people.
So this wave can no longer be stopped completely, and we have to counter it. "
Impending overload in many areas
Green politician Dahmen said: “It is foreseeable that the Omikron variant will quickly become a major problem for our country.
The current delta wave is expected to transition into an even higher omicron wave.
Omikron can be transmitted more quickly and can even infect those who have recovered and especially those who have been vaccinated twice. "
He expects a significantly increasing incidence of omicrons and an even greater burden on the health system, explained Dahmen.
"Numerous illness-related staff absences in areas of critical infrastructure such as healthcare, police, fire brigade or food retail are likely without countermeasures."
jok / dpa