Corona resolutions
Scholz after the Prime Minister’s round: “Stay on course”, increase vaccination rate and PCR test capacities
Olaf Scholz (right) and Hendrik Wüst after the prime ministers’ conference.
© John Macdougall/AFP Pool/DPA
The heads of government of the federal and state governments do not want to change the corona measures because of the increasing omicron wave and “stay on course”, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
The Omikron wave rolls across Germany. The message from the federal and state governments is: Stay the course with the Corona measures. Neither tightening nor easing is necessary at the moment.
Despite the rapid increase in the number of infections, the federal and state governments do not want to tighten the corona measures for the time being. At the moment you don’t see any possibility for relaxation. One must remain cautious, said Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) after consultations with the state premiers. It is still unclear how the pandemic will develop. The necessary decisions will be made if necessary. “But now the first thing to do is stay the course!”
The federal and state governments have decided to agree on further steps to control infection if there is a risk of the health system being overloaded. At the same time, they agreed to develop opening perspectives for the moment when an overload of the health system can be ruled out.
Berlin’s head of government Franziska Giffey (SPD) said that the federal-state group had agreed “that easing the measures at this point in time with the corresponding number of infections is not the method of choice”. However, no further tightening is indicated.
Scholz dissatisfied with vaccination progress
Olaf Scholz has expressed his dissatisfaction with the progress of vaccination against the corona virus. The SPD politician admitted that the goal of 30 million vaccinations between Christmas and the end of January can no longer be met. “You have to be realistic, we won’t achieve that on the day I would like to,” he said. However, it is quite possible to achieve the total number of vaccinations.
After 30 million vaccinations before Christmas, Scholz had given out another 30 million vaccinations by the end of January as a new goal. In order to increase the vaccination rate, the federal government wants to promote vaccination protection against the corona virus more than before. In addition to posters with the motto “Vaccination helps”, there should now also be more calls on the radio and on social media platforms.
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In addition, the federal and state governments want to increase the limited capacities for PCR tests. It is said that every effort should be made to do this. At the same time, it was stated that it was essential to prioritize when bottlenecks occurred.
The federal states took note of the decision of the conference of health ministers to focus the limited availability of PCR tests on particularly vulnerable groups and on employees who care for and treat them. These are the staff in particular in hospitals, in practices, in nursing, in integration aid facilities and for people at risk of serious illnesses.
No changes for football fans
In these cases, a suspected corona infection should continue to be clarified by a PCR test. Likewise, PCR tests are to be used for high-risk patients in order to enable early treatment.
No changes to the measures mean that the clubs in the Bundesliga and other German professional leagues will continue to have to do without a large number of fans. This means that the professional leagues in football, handball, basketball or ice hockey are largely ghost games. One must remain cautious, said the Chancellor, it is still unclear how the pandemic will develop. The necessary decisions will be made if necessary. “But now the first thing to do is stay the course!”
The federal government also wants to check whether the Corona economic aid and the special regulations for short-time work benefits will be extended beyond March. The resolution paper on the consultations with the heads of government of the federal states states that there is agreement that a decision must be made promptly on whether to continue and design the aid. The federal government will present a proposal for this by the next meeting, taking into account the further development of the infection process and the measures to contain the pandemic. The next federal-state round should take place on February 16, unless the further infection process makes an earlier meeting necessary.
Next high for corona infections
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the seven-day incidence rose to the next high of 840.3, after 806.8 reported new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days the previous day and 528.2 a week ago. The health authorities reported 63,393 new cases in one day. The number of corona intensive care patients rose again slightly. According to the daily report from the Divi register, 2,438 people were in intensive care treatment on Monday – twelve more than the day before. At the peak of the fourth wave in December, there were around 5,000. Then the number fell continuously for a long time.