Status: 02/14/2022 12:20 p.m
Before the federal-state consultations, the debate about relaxing the corona rules is picking up speed. Several Union Prime Ministers are demanding that it be reopened in stages. And a draft resolution with far-reaching ideas is circulating.
On Wednesday, the federal and state governments will discuss how to proceed in the corona pandemic. In the run-up to the nationwide easing, the voices are increasing – and there is a draft resolution that provides for a concrete three-stage plan.
“If the opening plan is decided, then the first easing can apply from next week”, Tom Schneider, ARD Berlin
tagesschau24 12:00 p.m., 14.2.2022
In the paper that dem ARD Capital Studio is available, it says: “By the beginning of spring on March 20, 2022, the far-reaching restrictions on social, cultural and economic life should be gradually withdrawn.”
Contact restrictions should be relaxed first
In a first step private gatherings for vaccinated and recovered people should be allowed with more participants. An exact number for this is still unclear, in the draft a number of up to 20 people is under discussion. Previously, there was an upper limit of ten people. As before, children up to the age of 14 should be exempt from this. Due to the particular risk to those who have not been vaccinated, the existing restrictions for these people should remain in place until March 19, 2022. This means that as soon as an unvaccinated person is present, a household can only meet with two other people from another household.
Access to retail should also be possible “nationwide for all people without controls”, but with a medical mask.
From March 4th there would be relaxation for gastronomy, discotheques and clubs. Access to gastronomy should be possible with the 3G regulation – i.e. also with a negative, daily updated test. The 3G rule should then also apply to accommodation offers. Discotheques and clubs are to be opened for those who have recovered and those who have been vaccinated with a daily test or with a third vaccination (2G-Plus). There are also plans to relax indoor and outdoor restrictions for major national events.
From March 20th According to the proposal, “all far-reaching protective measures will then be dropped” as well as the mandatory home office regulations. However, employers can continue to offer home office work in agreement with the employees.
It is unclear with which federal states the draft has been coordinated. Before it became known, however, several prime ministers from federal states led by the Union had already spoken out with demands for relaxation.
Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther called for a step towards normality. The pandemic management of the federal and state governments must become more understandable again, he told the “world”. “You can’t do that if you regulate every detail as detailed as possible. We now have to concentrate more on basic protection measures and rely on people’s personal responsibility.”
Günther: Eliminate 2G in retail
Günther spoke out in favor of taking “a big step towards normality nationwide, which is understandable for everyone”. To the Deutschlandfunk said the CDU politician: “We now have opportunities to reduce the protective measures a bit.” 2G could “definitely” be canceled in retail. On the other hand, it is “still a tick too early” for the end of the mask requirement in schools. When it comes to major events, people can definitely be given hope again. “I believe that we can reopen in stages in the future, that we will make major events possible again.”
The chairman of the Prime Ministers’ Conference, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst, also spoke out in favor of easing. The CDU politician told the “Welt”: “Thanks to a milder course of the disease, we are entering a new phase of the pandemic, which opens up prospects for gradual openings. These must be secured by basic protection so that we do not have to take them back.”
Söder for the end of the contact restrictions
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder also has ideas about possible easing that sound similar to the draft resolution. Söder told the dpa news agency that a phased plan was needed to exit the measures. “First of all, 2G can be abolished nationwide in retail and switched from 2G plus to 2G in gastronomy. In addition, more viewers should be allowed nationwide: 50 percent in sports with a limited maximum number and 75 percent in culture.”
In Bavaria, Söder had recently relaxed the previously comparatively strict corona rules. In addition, the Prime Minister is now calling for an end to the contact restrictions – but at the same time also for a longer-term legal basis for protective measures such as the obligation to wear masks and distance rules, as well as an emergency strategy for possible new waves.
Lindner: “Normalize life step by step”
Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner also spoke out in favor of extensive opening steps: In the areas of education, trade, gastronomy, culture, sport and in companies one must take “a noticeable step towards normality”, he told the “Handelsblatt”. The 2G rules should be “repealed immediately” and replaced with the wearing of FFP2 masks.
He also spoke out in favor of the fact that the contact restrictions for vaccinated and recovered people should be dropped. There should no longer be any restrictions on people outside. “We have to start the process now and normalize life step by step,” said Lindner.
Expert advice: loosening possible
The Federal Government’s Expert Council considers it possible to relax corona measures in the coming weeks under certain conditions. “The number of SARS-CoV-2 infections has so far risen continuously, but a plateau and a subsequent drop for the omicron (BA.1) wave is to be expected in the coming weeks,” said the Council’s sixth statement. “At this point in time, it is important to plan opening strategies with foresight and to communicate these steps in an understandable way.”
The Council emphasized that opening too early carries the risk of a renewed increase in the burden of disease. “Reducing state infection control measures seems sensible as soon as there is a stable drop in hospitalization and intensive care admissions and occupancy.”
Event industry for “immediate opening”
An urgent appeal for easing comes from the event industry: This calls for an “immediate and complete opening” and the end of all Corona requirements. “We now have to decide whether our events will take place in autumn or not,” said the President of the Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry, Jens Michow, of the Funke media group.
Berlin’s health senator warns against loosening too quickly
But there are also warning words from the federal states – they come from Berlin’s health senator Ulrike Gote. “I’m still with the ‘Team Caution’, quite explicitly. What’s being said now, we’ll open everything on March 19, that’s going too fast for me, to be honest,” said the Green politician in the Health Committee of the House of Representatives. “If we look at how things are developing in other countries, these are not good observations.” In Denmark and Israel, for example, the number of infections rose sharply again after the easing – but above all the burden in the hospitals.