Live blog
Status: 05.12.2021 3:01 a.m.
The designated Federal Minister of Transport, Wissing, calls on people to refrain from traveling over the Christmas period. Union faction leader Brinkhaus does not rule out school closings in hotspots. All developments in the live blog.
- Wissing advises against traveling over Christmas
- Brinkhaus does not rule out school closings if the incidence is high
3:01 am
Wissing advises against traveling during the Christmas period
In view of the high number of infections with the coronavirus, the designated Federal Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing, advocates “spending Christmas in a small group at home and not planning any major trips through the country”. He also warned in the “Bild am Sonntag”: “Winter 2021 will be more dramatic than winter 2020.” Contact restrictions in the private sector are therefore important to combat the pandemic.
The FDP politician also emphasized that compulsory vaccination must be checked “in order to protect our health system from collapse and our society from ever new lockdowns.” Originally, his party had refused to require a vaccination.
3:01 am
Brinkhaus does not rule out school closings
Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus fears that the tightening of the corona measures decided by the federal and state governments will not be enough to break the fourth wave. Especially in regions with very high incidence values, there should be “no taboos,” he urged in the newspapers of the Funke media group.
He also mentioned the option of school closings, even if this would mean a considerable burden for children and parents. That is why “the school ministers’ endeavor must of course be to keep schools open as long as possible with mask requirements, tests and ventilation”. As a further possible tightening beyond the federal-state agreements, Brinkhaus brought temporary contact restrictions also for vaccinated people into play.