From the pedestrian zone to the train station, a detour to the locked basketball court, then to the lakeshore and back to the train station: the police demonstrate their presence in the Corona hotspot in Hof.
Almost nowhere else in Germany is the incidence of the corona pandemic as high as in the Upper Franconian city with just under 50,000 inhabitants. The officers have been working extra shifts for days, even from Nuremberg and Würzburg reinforcements from the riot police. On Friday night alone, nine vehicles leave Lower Franconia, and their paths repeatedly cross with the patrols from Hof and the inspectors from the public order office.
Hof is probably safer than ever – and at the same time the uncertainty is huge. Because the enemy is invisible, a virus that has paralyzed the city for months. The restaurants have been closed since November, most of the shops since December and the schools since February.
Without exception, not even for graduating classes. Nevertheless, the number of infections is far too high. Since the beginning of April, Hof has been at the top nationwide, on Friday for the first time in second place with more than 460 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days.
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“It is difficult for us to explain why the numbers are so high here, of all places,” says Matthias Singer, Vice-Chief of Police Hof. He points to an abandoned basketball court that is barely cordoned off with a barrier tape. “It was a meeting place to play ball, listen to music and talk. Since the square was closed, hardly any people have come here. ”But otherwise most people in the city would also obey the rules.
The immensely high numbers are a mystery that politicians are also faced with. Commuters are likely to bring in the virus, highly contagious mutations are spreading, but even the youngest seem to be infected quickly.
After all, 350 children in Hof attend the emergency care of the schools, more than 550 the daycare centers. In the past week alone, there were corona cases in 16 daycare centers in the city and district, said District Administrator Oliver Bär (CSU) in a press conference on Thursday. Even the emergency care often had to close.
So city and district take action, announce measure after measure. After 8:30 p.m., nobody is allowed to leave the house in Hof, the sports facilities are closed, masks are required on playgrounds, and church services are no longer allowed. Perhaps the people of Hof evade, only drive a few kilometers further? No, there is no such thing as “worship tourism”, asserts Dean Günter Saalfrank.
From Saturday the rules will be tightened again
Nevertheless, the rules will be tightened again from Saturday. Then emergency care will only apply to children whose parents have both systemically relevant professions. Salespeople and cashiers must wear a mask, as must hairdressers and beauticians when caring for the face and beard. The shopping trolleys will also be constantly disinfected in the future. But the great hope lies with vaccination: From the weekend, the Bundeswehr is to lend a hand, and at the beginning of the week the region will receive 2000 additional doses of vaccine.
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The city now has a whole list of measures, admits Mayor Eva Döhla (SPD) at the press conference on Thursday. It is “completely rightly asked: Can all of this still be controlled? Is what is ordered still enforceable at all? “
But it is checked – and more and more objections are made. “There are days when the corona checks make up almost a third of day-to-day business,” says Matthias Singer from the police. The officials reported around 600 violations of the corona rules last year. Since January there have been almost 450 ads, 140 of them since the rules were tightened last Saturday.
There are scenes like at the main train station on Thursday evening: three men and a woman drink alcohol and smoke, all without distance and mask. The police confronted them, threatened with a complaint and a fine of 250 euros. “I don’t even know how to pay for it,” slurred one of the men, waving his beer bottle in the air.
“There is absolutely no leeway at an open-air regulars’ table or corona parties,” emphasizes Singer, shaking his head. But it is often a question of instinct. When a nine-year-old goes for a walk with her dog and accidentally meets two friends, the officers turn a blind eye again. One of the policemen admits that during the inspection, “you also have a guilty conscience yourself”.
Otherwise it will remain calm, a few hours after the renewed tightening of the rules was announced. A snowstorm is driving people into their homes, but word of the controls also spread, says the deputy head of the police. The fight against the pandemic is a “task for society as a whole. This is only possible if everyone abides by the rules and we do our part with our controls, ”emphasized Singer. “We are all private individuals who want to go on vacation again at some point or want to meet friends.” (dpa)
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