The mayor wanted to send a signal to the people of Munich, which he made clear in the plenary meeting of the city council in Löwenbräukeller on Thursday morning. He would very much welcome it, said Dieter Reiter (SPD) right at the beginning, if the city council would “return to an objective discussion” and “work on solutions oriented”. He himself paved the way for this wish by assuming political responsibility for the mishaps in case recording and contact tracking.
“I misjudged that. I have relied on the employees for far too long to get it done.” However, he explicitly protected them, they would work hard. “The criticism should work off of me.”
In addition, the mayor emphasized that the parliamentary groups’ ideas and suggestions should be presented and discussed in the city council. Good ideas would thus find their way into the city’s corona strategy, regardless of who they came from. CSU parliamentary deputy Hans Theiss, one of the toughest critics of the Reiters Corona course and his coalition, has so far not seen any great willingness.
The CSU had submitted more than 50 inquiries and applications, but these were not processed at all, were unsatisfactory or had been rejected, he said. With direct criticism of OB Reiter and health officer Beatrix Zurek (SPD), he held back noticeably.
Theiss only attacked hard once. Mayor Katrin Habenschaden from the Greens ducked completely away in such a severe crisis in the city, said Theiss. “Where is the front woman?” He asked in the direction of the Greens. And answered herself: She would rather travel for a good cause or go to award ceremonies than be present in old people’s homes or schools. Bad damage itself did not respond, but Green parliamentary leader Florian Roth. “We don’t duck. We have always faced all debates,” he denied the allegations.
This controversy was basically the only one in which Reiter’s wish for a sign of the future was fulfilled. Party colleague Zurek, who had accused the CSU and FDP of failure in advance, he got completely out of the line of fire. She could concentrate exclusively on the concrete measures and demands, on which the city council finally agreed largely unanimously.
High pressure vaccination
“We will make everything possible,” said health officer Beatrix Zurek – so that the vaccination campaign moves forward. From health guides to vaccination street workers to low-threshold offers in the city districts. They also want to promote vaccination more, on MVG’s passenger TV, in weekly newspapers and on social media. The classic advertising pillars would also be checked. All vaccination centers will soon also be operated seven days a week – the vaccination center in Riem is currently closed on Sundays and Mondays.
The biggest problem, according to Zurek, is finding medical staff. An urgent motion by the CSU on the subject of mandatory vaccination was postponed. The parliamentary group demands that the mayor should campaign for this at the higher political levels – compulsory vaccination appears to be the smallest evil with a far too low vaccination rate and an increasing number of vaccination breakthroughs, after weighing all the advantages and disadvantages.
421 new posts for contact follow-up
For several weeks, the city had recently reported low incidence figures. That that didn’t work still annoys him, admitted OB Reiter. In the meantime, the problem has been resolved “through a relative act of violence”. So the numbers are right again, and “we can ensure that in the long term,” said Reiter. As of Thursday, the city council approved 421 temporary positions for case recording and contact tracking.
However, the health department anticipates that it could be difficult to fill these. That is why you want to use a temporary employment agency or a call center – or both. The city expects costs of 20.8 million euros.
More hospitals are to be involved
“We are still growing exponentially, and the predictions are worrying us,” said the managing director of the Munich Clinic, Axel Fischer. “If we continue as we have done in Munich, we will foreseeably have difficulties with the intensive capacities.” There are many specialist clinics that continue to perform operations on the knees or hips; they are not yet obliged to participate in the fight against corona. “That has been extremely frustrating for us for weeks.”
A video link with the Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) was scheduled on Thursday. “I hope that we can come to a solution,” said Fischer in the city council. OB Reiter jumped in at the head of the clinic: “I don’t want to see that so few of the 50 clinics in the city are taking part in the fight against the pandemic. That doesn’t work.” It took a while at the university clinics, but has now improved significantly. In the private clinics, participation is still “completely underdeveloped”.
The pub gardens remain until the end of March
The free bar areas in parking lots can now remain until March 31, 2022. Actually, it should be over at the end of November. Radiant heaters operated with green electricity are also still allowed. Only convalescent and vaccinated residents of Munich are allowed in the pub gardens, emphasized Mayor Reiter. So the 2-G rule applies.