Status: 14.09.2021 3:39 p.m.
After Hamburg, Berlin, Lower Saxony, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt are now also introducing the 2G model – in some cases without a mask requirement. You want to prevent overloading the hospitals.
After Hamburg, other federal states want to use the 2G model in order to further contain the infection rate, to avoid a difficult corona situation in autumn and to enable those who have been vaccinated and recover to a largely normal everyday life.
For example, people who have been vaccinated and recovered in Berlin can expect further relief. The Senate announced the introduction of a 2G option model: In a number of areas such as gastronomy or at events, the operators can then decide for themselves whether they only allow access to interior rooms for vaccinated or recovered people (2G) or for those who have been tested (3G). In the case of 2G, previous corona restrictions such as distance or mask would be eliminated.
Lower Saxony wants to involve more industries
Lower Saxony wants them there Extend the existing 2G rule to other industries: As head of government Stephan Weil announced in the state parliament in Hanover, in the future, for example, restaurateurs and businesses in areas such as culture and sport will only be allowed to admit those who have been vaccinated and recovered at their own request. Visitors who only present a corona test would have to stay outside.
In return, the mask and distance requirements are suspended. The government wants to specify the details in a new corona ordinance that is currently being drawn up.
In the state, clubs and discos are allowed to open according to the 2G model. The regulation shows “consistently good success,” said Weil in the state parliament.
The expansion of the 2G rule is a “contribution to the normalization of public life” in Lower Saxony, said the Prime Minister in his government statement. Fully vaccinated citizens would have the right to lead “their old life” again “without restriction”. Adults who decided against vaccination, however, would have to “answer for the consequences of their decision”.
If the corona situation worsens again in the future, as expected by experts, the unvaccinated will face a “difficult autumn and winter”, added Weil. The government of Lower Saxony will prevent the overloading of clinics and the uncontrolled spread of infection with “all determination”. The vaccinated would then, however, be spared restrictions because they no longer pose any significant danger.
Baden-Württemberg for 2G too
In Baden-Württemberg, a new three-stage plan for the corona measures will come into force on Thursday. In future, the so-called seven-day hospitalization in intensive care units or the number of intensive care beds occupied by Covid patients in the country will be the decisive benchmark for stricter measures, as Minister of Social Affairs Manfred Lucha said.
There is a new third level, which provides that only vaccinated and convalescent people are allowed to participate in public events, while tests by unvaccinated people are no longer sufficient. This third stage comes into force with twelve new corona cases in Baden-Württemberg intensive care units within seven days or with a total of 390 corona intensive care patients. Then private celebrations are also limited to two households for non-vaccinated persons.
Option model also in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt
And Saxony also wants to introduce the 2G system as an option model. According to this, only those who have been vaccinated and recovered should have access to restaurants, facilities or events of up to 5000 people, if the organizer decides for himself, announced State Chancellor Oliver Schenk. In return, there is the possibility of lifting restrictions such as the mask requirement and the distance requirement. However, an admission control must be carried out. So far it is unclear whether children up to the age of twelve and people who cannot be vaccinated will need a test when they visit appropriate facilities.
The state government in Saxony-Anhalt also decided to introduce a 2G option model for events and businesses. Companies and organizers can decide to only admit those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered. It was expressly an offer and not an obligation, declared the state government. Organizers and businesses that opt for the 2G access model do not have to comply with distance rules, mask requirements or capacity restrictions.
In advance, however, the model must be reported to the health department and made public by notice or notice at the relevant location. It is also possible to choose the 2G model in an hourly or daily alternation with the 3G model.
Hamburg had the 2G model as first federal state introduced at the end of Augustt. However, the measure is controversial: Critics fear discrimination against the unvaccinated. The AfD announced a few days ago that it would file lawsuits against the model. “We will take action against any discrimination against unvaccinated people in any case,” said the top candidate Alice Weidel to the news portal t-online. Healthy people should not be unnecessarily restricted in their basic rights. According to Weidel, he has not been vaccinated against the corona virus.
Federal government: No partial lockdown planned
Meanwhile, the federal government contradicted the “Bild” newspaper regarding an allegedly planned partial lockdown. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, no such is planned.
The federal government only wants to create an additional security instrument for trade fairs and exhibitions. A spokeswoman said that stand builders and exhibitors had to act with long planning and lead times and were still confronted with restrictions on their business operations. “The federal government wants to create an additional security instrument here.”
The “Bild” newspaper reported on a “secret paper” from the Ministry of Finance. Specifically, it is a letter from the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Bettina Hagedorn, to the budget committee of the Bundestag, which was available to the dpa news agency.
150 million euros planned
Accordingly, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is applying for funds amounting to 150 million euros for possible additional expenditure in connection with a planned failure protection instrument for trade fairs and exhibitions. The letter says that the additional need arises from the fact that due to the current sharp increase in incidences and the stagnating readiness to vaccinate as well as the beginning of the cooler season with easier virus spread, there is still a high risk of failure for trade fairs and exhibitions due to corona-related restrictions.
The “Bild” newspaper had written that Economics Minister Peter Altmaier expected a possible partial lockdown at major events and was preparing for the financial consequences for the industry. The spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economic Affairs said: “This is nonsense. The federal government is not planning a new partial lockdown.”