Angela Merkel insists on “acting very quickly”: She wants to discuss how to proceed with the corona pandemic with the heads of government of the federal states next week – and not on January 25, as actually planned. The Chancellor made this clear on Thursday evening in an online meeting of the CDU Presidium. Her spokesman later confirmed that the round would interconnect on Tuesday.
The corona virus can only be stopped with significantly additional effort, said Merkel, according to the presidium participants. The mutation that has emerged in Great Britain is causing “great concern” and is very aggressive. They are in a race against time and cannot wait until January 25 to make decisions. The Chancellor was quoted as saying that only tightened measures could stop exponential growth.
“Too many exceptions”
The President of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Robert Wieler, had previously also called for tougher countermeasures. “These measures that we are taking now – for me it is not a complete lockdown,” said Wieler. “There are still too many exceptions and it is not strictly enforced.” And with a view to virus variants, he added: “There is a possibility that the situation will get worse.” According to its own information, the institute is currently aware of 16 cases of the mutation that appeared in Great Britain in Germany, plus four cases from South Africa.
Regularly informs about the Corona situation: Lothar Wieler
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According to the RKI, the population in Germany is currently significantly less restricted in their mobility than in the first lockdown. On Sundays in December, for example, it became apparent that people were out and about much more frequently than in spring 2020, Wieler reported.
Merkel rejected a report in the “Bild” newspaper, according to which the Chancellery was thinking about the suspension of local public transport. Rather, the local public transport must be relieved by employees working more in the home office and thus the contacts could be further reduced.
Thuringia draws consequences
22,368 new cases of infection were registered within 24 hours. The total number of all infections exceeded the two million mark. Within one day, the RKI recorded 1,133 deaths in connection with a corona infection. A total of 44,994 people died of or with SARS-CoV-2 in Germany.
In Thuringia, the German state most severely affected by the pandemic, it has meanwhile been decided to postpone the state elections planned for April 25. It should not take place until September 26th – at the same time as the general election.
The Bundeswehr is meanwhile facing a decision as to whether the mandatory vaccination for soldiers will be extended to protection against the corona virus. An examination is in progress, confirmed a defense ministry spokesman for the German press agency. The “Spiegel” reported in December that the general physician of the Bundeswehr had recommended that the vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 be included in the so-called basic vaccination protection for all soldiers.
wa / rb (dpa, afp, rtr)
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