Corona autumn
“There are no signs of such virus variants anywhere”: Buschmann accuses Lauterbach of scaremongering
Karl Lauterbach (SPD), Federal Minister of Health, and Marco Buschmann (FDP), Federal Minister of Justice, provide information on new rules in the Infection Protection Act
© Wolfgang Kumm / DPA
The Minister of Health warns against taking the corona pandemic lightly – and is preparing Germany for a difficult autumn. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann thinks little of Karl Lauterbach’s pandemic speeches.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) accuses his health colleague Karl Lauterbach (SPD) of scaremongering in corona politics. In response to an interview question about reactivation of the legal status of the epidemic situation of national scope, Lauterbach said that if there were no new corona variants, this emergency tool would be manageable, which he hoped. Last winter, the legal status was the basis for stricter measures than are currently planned for the fall – such as contact restrictions and school closures.
Lauterbach prepares the Germans for a difficult Corona autumn due to the increasing number of cases. With the omicron subvariant BA.5, at least at the beginning of autumn, there will be an increase in the number of cases, the SPD politician told the “Welt am Sonntag”. “There will then be failures in the companies and the critical infrastructure, for example in hospitals. So we are facing difficult times.” This is particularly the case when staying indoors becomes the norm because of the cold temperatures.
Buschmann told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “I don’t believe in scaremongering. There are currently no signs of such virus variants anywhere.” He added: “For reactivation, the Bundestag would have to agree to that. There is no majority in the coalition for that. Because the Free Democrats have said that hell would have to open up among us before we agree to it.”
Countries can tighten corona measures again
The new draft law only stipulates a nationwide mask requirement in long-distance transport and a mask and test requirement in clinics and nursing homes. The federal states can each decide on further measures for themselves. But Buschmann doesn’t see any major problem in the creation of a “patchwork quilt”: “In fact, the core of the concept is a moderate amount of room for maneuver for the states,” he said. “The fact that different rules apply in many areas is the norm in federalism.” The infection process does not develop the same way across Germany, but varies regionally.
Regarding his relationship with Lauterbach, he said: “We have a professional and constructive working relationship, but of course it’s like this: he has different ideas from his role.” Anything other than different perspectives would also be strange, he says.