Berlin. Fierce discussions are raging about the bans on accommodation in many countries for holidaymakers from German risk areas. Many politicians are calling for the regulation that was agreed last week to be withdrawn. Berlin’s Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) and North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) announced that there was a need for discussion for the Prime Minister’s Conference on Wednesday. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday that Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) would listen to arguments from all sides. But it is about state regulations.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 2,467 new corona infections within one day on Monday morning, a week earlier there were 1,382 new cases. More and more cities exceed the warning value of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days. According to RKI information from Monday morning, the value for Munich again exceeded the mark and is now 50.6. The Bavarian capital had already reached the warning level and tightened measures. At the weekend, among others, Cologne, Stuttgart, Essen and Mainz reported that the important warning level had been exceeded. Other large cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt and Bremen had already risen above this mark. In Saxony, the Erzgebirge district has become a risk area.
People from these areas are no longer allowed to stay in hotels, guest houses or holiday apartments in many federal states – unless they can present a current negative coronavirus test. The President of the German Association of Cities, Leipzig’s Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung (SPD), told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday) that the regulation was “not well thought out, it will have to be addressed again”.
Most of the federal states including Saxony, decided on Wednesday that citizens from places with very high numbers of corona infections may only be accommodated when traveling within Germany if they can present a negative corona test that is no more than 48 hours old. This should take effect for travelers from areas with more than 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days. This should take effect for travelers from areas with more than 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days.
The hotel and restaurant association (Dehoga) in Brandenburg is examining legal steps against a corona-related ban on accommodation. The German Tourism Association demanded uniform and understandable rules for traveling in Germany. “The chaos at the beginning of the autumn holidays shows once again that a coordinated approach by the federal and state governments is more urgent than ever,” the association announced in Berlin. “The dangers do not lie in spending the night in a holiday home in the country or in a hotel in a city,” said Association President Reinhard Meyer. “Travel within Germany, including overnight stays, must continue to be permitted and possible.”
Government spokesman Seibert spoke of the beginning of a “second wave” after deliberations in the so-called Corona cabinet on Monday. “Everyone in the federal government agrees: Now is the time to decide whether we can successfully counter this development or whether the numbers are running away in the direction of winter and Christmas.” If it came to that, sooner or later it would become clear again in the hospitals and intensive care units, said Seibert.
He defended the view of the number of new infections detected every day. From this number depends on whether the health authorities are able to maintain the contact tracing. The chairman of the board of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, had said in the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”: “We have to stop staring at the number of new infections like rabbits at the snake, that leads to false alarmism.”
According to a confidential government paper, the Schleswig-Holstein district of Pinneberg, the state of Berlin, the Lahn-Dill district and the Offenbach district in Hesse and the Esslingen district in Baden-Württemberg were no longer able to keep track of contacts with corona infected people. The information reflects the status as of October 6th.
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In view of the increasing number of coronavirus cases in Germany’s neighboring countries, the Federal Ministry of the Interior is not ruling out renewed border controls. A spokesman said that there was a “very strong increase” in cases in neighboring countries. This flows into considerations on quarantine regulations and the test regime. But he emphasized: “We are trying to ensure what is necessary with these measures without having to think about other measures at the borders.” (dpa)
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