Status: 07/27/2021 6:14 p.m.
Due to the increasing number of corona infections, several prime ministers had already called for an early meeting with Chancellor Merkel. It is now clear: on August 10th, the country leaders will discuss how to proceed.
The prime ministers of the federal states want to coordinate on August 10th on how to proceed in the corona pandemic. This was announced by the Chairman of the Conference of Prime Ministers (MPK) and Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller. The next MPK with Chancellor Angela Merkel was originally planned for the end of August.
“The corridor to effectively counteract the current development is getting narrower,” said Müller, referring to the increasing number of corona infections. Therefore, action must now be taken quickly. “Even if the situation in the intensive care units has improved significantly, we must not now gamble away the good starting position for autumn,” said Müller.
Söder wants to promote vaccination for minors
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder called on the federal and state governments to go into autumn with a clear strategy against a fourth corona wave. There should be no hesitation in fighting the pandemic and the hope of “stumbling into the federal election,” said Söder.
Söder also spoke out in favor of giving back their freedom to vaccinated people, but not simply to give back to unvaccinated people. It is not about the disadvantage of the unvaccinated or about a vaccination pressure through the back door. However, the withholding of basic rights for vaccinated people cannot be justified.
In the opinion of the Bavarian Prime Minister, vaccination for minors should be significantly advanced. The goal must be to reduce the quarantine times as much as possible for the students in the new school year, said Söder. In Great Britain, where the number of infections has increased significantly, 20 percent of students are currently in quarantine.
Stricter rules required for those returning to travel
Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke also called for a federal-state conference to be convened at short notice. “The federal government and the states must coordinate quickly. Therefore, the next prime ministerial conference should take place as soon as possible,” said the head of government of the news agency dpa. “We have to do everything we can to ensure that normal life can be maintained as much as possible.”
Woidke pointed out that more and more travel countries were becoming high-risk areas. “That was to be feared,” he said. “That is why we need consistent entry controls.”
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig also calls for stricter rules for those returning to travel. “When you return from a risk area, two tests and a quarantine up to the second test should be mandatory,” she told the “Handelsblatt”. A test on return is not conclusive enough.
New benchmark for assessing the pandemic situation?
Lower Saxony’s state government had already considered adapting the corona rules before the next meeting of the prime ministers. On the one hand, it should be avoided that, with increasing incidence values, areas are soon affected by restrictions “that have nothing to do with the development of the infection process,” said the deputy government spokeswoman Kathrin Riggert. On the other hand, it is necessary to react to the increasing number of infections in some regions at a “worrying pace”.
Riggert reiterated Prime Minister Stephan Weil’s demand that a federal and state meeting should take place “quickly” in order to clarify the question of a suitable benchmark for assessing the pandemic situation beyond the seven-day incidence nationwide. For example, vaccination progress must also be given greater consideration in the future.