Fight against the corona pandemic: emergency measures or rule chaos?

In view of the increasing number of corona cases, the federal states and many large cities have increased their security measures. Above all, bans on accommodation and higher fines for those who refuse to wear a mask are discussed further.

After the number of confirmed new corona infections had risen significantly in the past week, several federal states have issued new restrictions. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, larger celebrations are no longer possible for the time being.

Several prime ministers called on citizens to be more disciplined. “The situation is serious. More serious than those who do not adhere to the protective measures believe,” said the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer. Only if you reduce the number of contacts and follow the rules can you “starve” the virus.

The cities affected are also trying to take countermeasures: In Berlin, a night curfew came into effect on the weekend, Stuttgart and Cologne, among other things, severely restrict the drinking of alcohol in public and tighten the mask requirement.

Söder defends the ban on accommodation

Several federal states are now demanding negative corona tests from vacationers from German risk areas – otherwise they are no longer allowed to stay in hotels. CSU boss Markus Söder defended the ban on accommodation, which applies in Bavaria, among other places, against criticism. The key question is not “who goes on vacation where, but how we can fight it or press the numbers,” said the Bavarian Prime Minister in the daily topics.

“We are actually too high with the numbers too soon, and now we have to take the situation very seriously so that we don’t get an uncontrolled spread,” said Söder. Therefore, joint considerations are necessary for uniform rules “which are understandable and applicable to everyone in Germany”.

The ban on accommodation means nothing else “than that there is an obligation to test”. This makes sense and twelve out of 16 federal states apply this. However, it is only an “emergency measure”, so Söder. Even clearer rules are needed for the coming weeks. “We want to be better prepared for this vacation than we were for the last vacation,” said Söder, referring to the many cases of travelers returning from abroad.

“Preventing a second lockdown”

The most cautious rules should be made the yardstick for all, “not the rules that are easiest”. He welcomed the fact that in the big cities concerned, the motto “more mask, less alcohol through the corresponding blocking times and smaller parties” is now being traded everywhere, said Söder. That is crucial, because now it is important to act quickly and uniformly.

Söder spoke out again for higher fines for violations of the mask requirement. “The important thing is to prevent jumping into the hospitals again and not having a vague uncontrollable occurrence,” he said. The mouth and nose covering is one of the few simple means to maintain public life and “prevent a second lockdown”.

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Armin Laschet signaled support for the proposal. “That we handle the fines similarly, that we also handle the punishment for violating the quarantine rules in a similar way, I think that’s a good thought. I could also imagine that we would come to joint decisions,” said the CDU politician on ZDF .

Lauterbach criticizes confusing travel rules

SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach also spoke out in favor of higher sentences. He pleaded in Report from Berlin for “uniform and really drastic fines”.

However, Lauterbach considers bans on accommodation to be “unsuccessful”. Traveling in Germany has so far hardly contributed to the new cases, “so we are solving a problem that does not even exist”. In addition, the regulations are “totally confusing” and cannot be checked because test results are often out of date. “It seems like the citizens are teasing and not fighting the pandemic.” He called on the prime ministers to “clean this up before it really does any harm”.

Criticism from Berlin and Thuringia

The state governments of Berlin and Thuringia, among others, had previously expressed criticism of the measure. Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow said, for example, that the local health department must assess how bad the situation actually is. For example, a strong outbreak in one facility could push the limits for the entire region upwards. “That’s why you can’t hold the rest of the whole county responsible for it.”

Berlin’s governing mayor Michael Müller announced in the ZDF program “Berlin direkt” that the bans on accommodation will be discussed again at the Prime Minister’s Conference next Wednesday. In a number of federal states, the autumn break began on the weekend. Because of the bans, people from Berlin cannot even go on vacation beyond the city limits in Brandenburg. A Baltic holiday in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is also taboo for them.

Braun supports countries

Chancellery Minister Helge Braun, on the other hand, supported the federal states’ decision to prohibit accommodation. “The really sensible thing is that we are working in the cities to stay below this 50s limit. If we can do that, travel will not be a problem,” said the CDU politician in the Report from Berlin. However, in view of the pandemic development in many cities, some countries are concerned that infections would enter the holiday regions.

The federal government wants the economy to continue and that schools and kindergartens remain open so that the country can get through the crisis well, said Braun. “And that’s why we have to be a little stricter where the chains of infection mainly spread – namely at celebrations and unfortunately also when traveling.” The ban on accommodation with the possibility of free testing is therefore “a real emergency measure”.