The federal government’s decision to largely relax the corona rules has pissed off many state governments. Above all, one regulation causes a lack of understanding and helplessness.
The hotspot rule for stricter corona measures continues to cause discussions in the federal states. There is great disagreement in the state governments as to whether the legal requirements for identifying hotspots are currently met or not.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has already declared the entire state a hotspot by the end of April. Hamburg plans to do the same, despite the city-state having the lowest incidence nationwide.
Other states such as Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony, on the other hand, see no legal basis for a hotspot regulation at the moment, despite record numbers of new corona infections, although they would welcome the measures being retained. Still others are against an extension of the protective measures. This was the result of a survey by the German Press Agency in the 16 federal states.
“The federal states are essentially doomed to inactivity,” said Lower Saxony’s Health Minister Daniela Behrens (SPD) of the dpa in Hanover. “Precaution is no longer possible. I think that’s wrong.” Five other states – Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland – called on the federal government to quickly clarify open questions about the implementation of the hotspot regulation. A special meeting of the conference of health ministers was requested to take place on Monday. The previous criteria for designating a corona hotspot are not legally secure and unclear.
Lauterbach appeals to countries
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach had called on the federal states to use the remaining options for corona containment, including the hotspot regulation. An overburdening of the healthcare system that can be determined for this can be measured by specific criteria – for example, if planned operations have to be postponed or patients have to be transferred, said the SPD politician. Nationwide rules are no longer possible because the health system is not overloaded throughout Germany.
The federal government’s decision to lift most of the corona rules was met with widespread protest in the federal states. After a transitional period until April 2nd, they can only impose further restrictions with more mask requirements and access rules if the state parliament determines a critical situation for hotspots. There are no threshold values for when this should take effect. Lauterbach announced that at the conference of health ministers on Monday, talks would be held with the federal states to make the hotspot regulation workable.
The deputy chair of the Federal Association of Physicians in the Public Health Service (BVÖGD), Elke Bruns-Philipps, warned in the newspapers of the Funke media group: “Fighting the pandemic must not lead to an unmanageable patchwork quilt after April 2nd.” The President of the German District Association, Reinhard Sager, told the “t-online” portal that unfortunately the toolbox in the Infection Protection Act had been curtailed. “In view of the still increasing number of infections, the regulation for the hotspots is too cumbersome.” He calls for more freedom of choice for the counties.
The situation in the countries at a glance
PLANNED HOTSPOTS (2)
Hamburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania
In MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN, the entire federal state is considered a hotspot until April 27th. This was decided by the state parliament with the votes of the coalition factions of the SPD and the left as well as the Greens. Specifically, the distance requirement, the mask requirement in indoor areas and the test requirement for unvaccinated people in hotels and restaurants remain in place. In HAMBURG, the red-green coalition is also planning to declare the entire city a hotspot and thus make it compulsory to wear masks indoors, including in retail, for an initial period of four weeks. The citizenship should decide on a corresponding application from the SPD and the Greens next week. The CDU and the left are also in favor of maintaining the mask requirement.
DECISION OPEN (6)
Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia
In BAVARIA and BRANDENBURG, the governments want to discuss on Tuesday how the Corona rules will continue after April 2nd. The Bavarian state government has already requested clarification from the federal government in order to be able to apply the hotspot regulation with legal certainty if necessary. From HESSEN it is said that the requirements for identifying hotspots are so high that, according to the state government, they actually come to nothing. The current situation does not indicate a legally secure regulation. Consultations on this are still pending in RHEINLAND-PFALZ and SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. The Kiel government also wants to consider a renewed hearing of its own expert council. In THURINGIA, the red-red-green minority government would like to extend the measures. However, the CDU recently made it clear that it did not want to support hotspot rules either for the state or for individual districts. A majority in the state parliament for the extension is therefore unlikely.
HOTSPOTS CURRENTLY NOT PLANNED (8)
Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Bremen, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt
In BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG and NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA, the state parliaments have already rejected requests to declare the entire state a hotspot. The green-black coalition in Stuttgart considers the end of the measures to be a mistake. However, the Greens and CDU no longer see any legal basis for a nationwide extension of the mask requirement and access restrictions. The government in LOWER SAXONY argues similarly. “As soon as we see an opportunity to create a legally secure hotspot regulation in Lower Saxony, we will present it to the state parliament,” said Health Minister Daniela Behrens (SPD). However, we do not currently see this opportunity. In SACHSEN-ANHALT, which is governed in black, red and yellow, the CDU and FDP reject an extension of the corona measures. In SAXONY, the government has agreed that basic protection measures should remain in effect from the beginning of April. In BERLIN, BREMEN and SAARLAND, too, people are preparing for the end of most protective measures – also because there are currently hardly any possibilities for hotspot regulation, as a government spokesman in Saarbrücken said.