Prime ministers with Scholz and Merkel: Corona consultations planned for Tuesday

In view of the high corona numbers, calls for tougher measures are getting louder and louder. The leaders of the federal states therefore want to consult with Chancellor Merkel and SPD candidate for Chancellor Scholz tomorrow.

The prime ministers of the federal states want to discuss the corona crisis with the executive chancellor Angela Merkel and the likely future chancellor Olaf Scholz. In the telephone vote scheduled for 1 p.m., the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on the so-called federal emergency brake should be discussed, as reported by several media, citing government circles.

The Karlsruhe judges want to comment on Tuesday morning on exit and contact restrictions as well as school closings under the Corona “federal emergency brake”. This had to be drawn automatically across the country if the so-called seven-day incidence exceeded the 100 mark over several days. The planned traffic light coalition recently said that the Karlsruhe decisions should be awaited before a possible tightening of the Corona course.

The crisis team should start this week

Meanwhile, it became known that the Corona crisis team planned by the traffic light partners in the Chancellery could start working in the next few days. According to the words of FDP leader Christian Lindner, the permanent federal-state committee will start this week. This was also confirmed by SPD leader Saskia Esken. The crisis team will meet “at the beginning of this week”, she said in the BR.

A general will be at the head of the crisis team, Linder said last night ARD– “Anne Will” program explained. According to a report in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, Major General Carsten Breuer is in discussion for the management of the staff. The 56-year-old is the commander of the Bundeswehr Territorial Tasks Command, which is responsible for domestic operations by the armed forces.

Stricter rules for major events in North Rhine-Westphalia

Several federal states are meanwhile planning tightening of measures. For example, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst announced tightened rules for major events in front of 50,000 spectators two days after the soccer game between 1. FC Köln and Borussia Mönchengladbach. “There mustn’t be such pictures again,” said the CDU politician with a view of the fully occupied stadium, in which many spectators did not wear protective masks. “We will use our tools to prevent that too,” said Wüst. For large sporting events and major events, it probably amounts to “significant reductions in the number of spectators”.

The sold-out Rhenish derby on Saturday was sharply criticized in view of the tense Corona situation. Shortly before the start of the game, the health department had ordered that masking must also be required on the pitches in the stadium. Despite repeated requests from the stadium announcer, not all spectators did so by a long way.

Cabinets from Bavaria and Saxony meet together

In addition, the mask requirement in schools is to be reintroduced in North Rhine-Westphalia. School Minister Yvonne Gebauer announced that she would recommend the cabinet to return to the requirement of wearing masks for all schools. Face-to-face teaching remains desirable, especially from a pedagogical point of view. Because of the infection process, including the newly emerged virus mutation, protection against infection is increasingly coming to the fore again.

The cabinets of Bavaria and Saxony want to join forces tomorrow to discuss the current situation together. According to the Robert Koch Institute, the seven-day incidence in Saxony is by far the highest nationwide, and Bavaria is also still in the top group. Recently, numerous intensive care patients from both federal states had to be transferred to other federal states in order to relieve the clinics at least a little.

Söder sees Bavaria on the right track

According to his own statement, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder sees an initial effect of the measures in his state based on the incidence. “If you see the incidence today, you see that it is rising in Germany and falling slightly in Bavaria. And that is a trend that has been evident for a few days,” said the CSU boss on ZDF. This shows that “our measures are beginning to take effect”.

Bavaria has the strictest corona rules and even a “hard lockdown” in hotspots. But now the same strict rules were needed for the whole country. In Bavaria, for example, there is a nationwide 2G rule for gastronomy, pubs have to close at 10 p.m. Hotels and restaurants are completely closed in hotspots.

Lucha calls for “federal emergency brake”

Baden-Württemberg Health Minister Manfred Lucha said he expected further tightening in his state. Contacts would have to be cut back by 70 to 90 percent in order not to overload hospitals any further, he said on Deutschlandfunk and added: “We have to reduce that significantly now. The basic message is not to make contacts that are not necessary.” Among other things, major events could be canceled.

Lucha also called for the recently expired “epidemic of national scope” to be returned in the coming days in order to be able to decide on more stringent measures in the corona situation. He spoke out in favor of re-imposing the “Federal Emergency Brake”, which was in force from the end of April to the end of June 2021, this week. “Then it would be clear to everyone what applies,” said the Green politician. Only in a declared emergency situation can state governments take far-reaching measures by simple ordinance.