The possible future Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) advocates far-reaching 2-G regulations in Germany. The fact that more and more federal states are now only allowing access to events, cinemas or restaurants to people who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered from Corona is “a good step forward,” said the SPD politician in the Bundestag. The changes to the Infection Protection Act planned by his party, the FDP and the Greens would give the countries “every opportunity” to react differently to the respective situation.
Scholz also announced that there would be a federal-state meeting to combat corona next week – the SPD had so far refused. They will meet on Thursday, said the new Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst (CDU), who is currently chairing the Prime Minister’s Conference.
In the middle of their coalition negotiations, the SPD, Greens and FDP want to redefine the corona course in Germany with a change to the Infection Protection Act. The Bundestag debated this for the first time this Thursday. Scholz also spoke after he had largely held back for weeks in public. “Even if the situation is different because so many are vaccinated, it is still not good,” said Scholz. That’s why you have to be careful. “We have to make our country winterproof, so to speak,” said Scholz, referring to the high number of infections. It is crucial that more people are vaccinated against Corona – also with booster vaccinations.
The CDU and CSU had repeatedly accused him and the traffic light partners of not reacting adequately to the worsening corona situation. Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus now spoke in the Bundestag of “denial of reality”. The fact that the SPD, Greens and FDP want to let the so-called epidemic situation of national scope as the basis of the corona measures expire in two weeks is “the completely wrong signal”. This is telling people that the situation is no longer bad. “The risks increase and you screw down the instrument box,” criticized Alexander Dobrindt (CSU). “That can’t go well, Mr. Scholz.”
While Scholz only vaguely spoke of further measures that could still be decided, Greens parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt specifically called for a 2-G rule: “This is one of the effective measures we can take now,” she said in the Bundestag . The FDP did not respond; Their parliamentary managing director Marco Buschmann only said that “robust measures for combating Corona” that are legally secure are being made possible.
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich did not rule out improvements to the bill. In the past few hours there have been “depressing numbers,” said Mützenich shortly before the Bundestag session. But he was “confident” that the plans could be sharpened in the legislative process and that there would be “resilient discussions with the opposition”. He had offered the CDU / CSU parliamentary group fair advice, said Mützenich. He made it clear that the possible traffic light coalition would not continue to strive for uniform nationwide steps: He was convinced that the executive federal government and the new formation would do everything “what the federal states need to be able to respond well to this dramatic challenge in the region” . The health policy spokespersons of the three parliamentary groups had already presented their plans on Tuesday and defended themselves against the accusation of remaining inactive.
The Left criticized that the previous federal government had abolished the free citizen tests and did not support the vaccination campaign enough. “The fourth wave was foreseeable,” said MEP Susanne Ferschl – and Olaf Scholz supported that as Federal Finance Minister. A 2-G rule is pointless, criticized AfD member Sebastian Munzenmaier, as vaccinated and convalescent people could pass on the corona virus. The purpose of the measure is rather a “massive and indecent pressure on people who did not want to be vaccinated”.
How to proceed with the fight against corona
Epidemic situation: The prospective traffic light partners want to let the so-called epidemic situation of national scope expire on November 25th – after one and a half years and against the will of the still executive Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the CSU. The number of corona infections has been rising sharply for days, and the Robert Koch Institute recorded two highs on Thursday: The number of new infections rose by more than 10,000 to 50,196, the nationwide seven-day incidence was 249.1. The SPD, Greens and FDP still no longer consider the pandemic emergency as the basis for corona measures to be legally secure, as many people have now been vaccinated.
Future opportunities for the countries: This epidemic situation is to be replaced by a smaller catalog of possible measures that the countries can take. In the 44-page draft by the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, distance requirements, mask requirements, hygiene requirements for schools or universities are also provided as options for the federal states. This also includes a possible obligation to present proof of vaccination, recovery or test (2 G or 3 G) for events or restaurants, for example. Scholz vaguely indicated on Thursday that this catalog could be expanded. According to the draft law, such measures should only be able to be applied until March 19, 2022. General closings of schools and shops or large-scale bans on events should no longer be possible from the end of November.
3 G at the workplace: The SPD, Greens and FDP want a regulation that employees in their company must be vaccinated, recovered or tested negative for Corona. The Federal Ministry of Labor is currently working on a corresponding template, which is expected to be added to the ongoing legislative process.
On Thursday in a week, the changes to the Infection Protection Act are to be decided in parliament and the next day in the Federal Council. In addition, among other things, the free “citizen tests” are to be reintroduced from next week. A corresponding draft by the managing health minister Jens Spahn (CDU) became known on Wednesday.
Conference of federal and state governments: As Scholz announced, the Prime Ministers will meet with the Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) in the coming week. She had called for an early meeting on Wednesday evening – as did the NRW Prime Minister Wüst, who chairs the Prime Minister’s Conference. “We need a national effort here again,” said Merkel. “The coronavirus takes no account of whether we currently have a governing government, whether we are in coalition negotiations.” Some state leaders such as the SPD Prime Minister Malu Dreyer from Rhineland-Palatinate did not see this as necessary so far.
Extension of 2 G: While some have been calling louder and louder for days to counter the increase in numbers in principle across the board with 2 G in Germany, others reject this. 2 G means that only those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered from Covid-19 have access to events or restaurants, for example. The regulations in the countries are very different here. In Saxony, 2 G has been in effect since the beginning of week, Berlin will follow suit next Monday, in Bavaria it will be used in wide areas.
Tests are sufficient elsewhere, although the range is high here too: while some countries require PCR tests for certain areas, a quick test is sufficient for others. There are different rules for how long ago the rapid test was allowed to be. SPD chancellor candidate Scholz also called for more tests, especially in nursing homes. And he promised that they would make sure that tests would continue in the schools.
However, the controls of the corona access rules are a problem. Many politicians and associations are now warning restaurateurs and organizers not to “slim down” here, as the chief executive of the German Association of Cities, Helmut Dedy, said.
With material from the dpa news agency