No more curfews and lockdowns for everyone

by time news

BerlinThe traffic light coalition is not yet in place, but while the 22 working groups from the SPD, Greens and FDP met for the first time on Wednesday, the three parties had already passed resolutions on the corona measures. And Green Party leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt was happy: “The traffic lights work before they exist.”

It is about an important issue – the “epidemic situation of national importance”. Despite rising incidences, these should no longer be available in this form after November 25th. The SPD, Greens and FDP do not want to extend the legal basis for extensive restrictions in Germany any further, they announced on Wednesday. The controversial paragraph 28a, paragraph 1 of the Infection Protection Act will be “legal history” from November 25, said FDP parliamentary group manager Marco Buschmann. 28a, paragraph 1 lists a number of controversial anti-corona measures – such as nationwide curfews, lockdowns or school closings.

That is now over, said SPD parliamentary deputy Dirk Wiese – that is “disproportionate in the current situation”. The nationwide home office requirement would also be eliminated. However, there should also be no Freedom Day on November 25th. This is an end to all corona measures.

However, some social benefits are to be extended until March 20 – such as easier access to basic income support, especially for artists or self-employed people, as well as the coverage of children’s sick days through wage replacement benefits, so that there is money for 30 instead of 10 children’s sick days (single parents: for 60 instead of 20) .

Traffic light parties see light at the end of the tunnel

Until March 20, the federal states will increasingly take over the direction in a kind of transitional phase when it comes to corona measures – be it the mask requirement, access rules only for vaccinated, convalescent and tested people, hygiene concepts, distance requirements and the recording of contact data.

The traffic light parties justified their decision with the good progress of the vaccinations, but kept a back door open – if, for example, new mutations appear that make a new assessment necessary. Wiese also emphasized, however, that there is currently no “serious risk to public health in the entire Federal Republic, which, according to the Infection Protection Act, is a prerequisite for establishing the epidemic situation on a national level”.

According to the RKI, the corona infections are increasing more and more

Nevertheless, one has to remain vigilant – also due to rising incidences. The Robert Koch Institute reported 24,300 new cases on Wednesday – 6,000 more than last week. Children in particular are increasingly infected. There is currently no approved vaccine for five to eleven year olds.

The Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt therefore emphasized that, in view of the problematic Corona situation, further protection is needed, especially for those who cannot be vaccinated. But you have to move away from blanket closures for the entire country. Therefore, the federal government is putting “the instrument case on the table” for the federal states.

The parliamentary manager of the FDP parliamentary group, Marco Buschmann, recalled that the FDP was the first of the parties to say that the epidemic situation must be ended. It had “at times led to an almost absolute dominance of the executive,” he said. In the pandemic, the public impression was created that parliament only understood the corona policy of the Prime Minister’s Conference.

Criticism of the decision: Many fear a patchwork quilt

So far, the requirements according to the Infection Protection Act have been linked to the fact that the Bundestag determines the epidemic situation, for the first time in March 2020. The determination of the emergency enables the federal government and the state governments to order central corona measures in a simplified way without the consent of parliaments. According to the Infection Protection Act, the federal states still have the option of determining the need for further corona measures through their state parliaments. However, critics fear a confusing “patchwork quilt” of measures and regulations in the federal states.

One of them is Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU). For him, the pandemic situation of national scope is not over yet. “On the contrary, it is just gaining strength and danger again,” said the head of government on Wednesday. Mistakes from the past should not be repeated – as in the spring, when politicians decided against the advice of science to lift protective measures in the event of increasing infections, according to Kretschmer. The result was the federal emergency brake and the lockdown in spring.

You may also like

Leave a Comment