Around two weeks have passed since the last corona crisis summit by the federal and state governments. Now Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Prime Ministers want to discuss again how to proceed.
Berlin – Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the Prime Ministers of the federal states will meet again this Friday for a video conference to discuss how to proceed in the Corona crisis.
Because of the feared steep increase in the number of infections due to the Omikron variant, the federal and state governments had already decided to tighten contact restrictions and other measures a little more than two weeks ago. The focus now, among other things, is on a new regulation of the quarantine requirements.
The location
The Federal Government’s Expert Council, which includes virologists, immunologists, pediatricians, ethicists and educational researchers, presented its current statement on Thursday. It should play an important role in the deliberations. The committee currently assesses the situation as follows:
Despite the subsiding delta wave and the reduced number of patients in the clinics, the occupancy of the intensive care units is still at a high level, and in some cases intensive care capacities are also “permanently utilized”. In the opinion of the experts, the Omikron variant will “soon” be dominant in Germany as well.
Dangerousness of Omikron
The experts point to the first studies that indicated that Omikron leads to milder disease courses – even in children – and that hospital admissions are becoming rarer. They affirm, however, that with many infections occurring at the same time, many people could still come to the hospital.
In the case of very high incidence values, a “considerable burden and regional overload” of the clinics is to be expected. There is also another warning against staff absences due to many simultaneous infections. According to the assessment of the committee, clinics and care facilities will have to prepare for “a considerable burden” in the coming weeks.
Countermeasures
The Corona Expert Council now recommends above all preparation for “increased use of the emergency rooms and normal wards”. The 19 experts advise that step-by-step concepts should be developed immediately to activate additional care areas for infectious patients. In addition, “preparations should be made in all federal states to reduce interventions that can be planned, which can be activated ad hoc in the event of a heavy load”.
Contact restrictions
During their deliberations on December 21, Scholz and the federal states further tightened the contact restrictions. Shortly after Christmas they came into force in most federal states: Since then, vaccinated and convalescent people are no longer allowed to meet indefinitely, but a maximum of ten, not counting children.
For meetings in which only a person who has not been vaccinated or who has not recovered has been involved, the following applies for a long time: only people from your own household and a maximum of two people from another household may be present, not counting children. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had spoken out in favor of further contact restrictions before the deliberations on Friday. However, the Federal Government’s Expert Council does not initially recommend this.
2G-Plus in restaurants?
Advice is also likely to be given about higher access thresholds for the catering trade. Recovered or vaccinated people who have not yet been “boosted” may need an additional current test in the future for the restaurant or café. That at least provides for a draft resolution from Thursday afternoon for the talks between the federal government and the states.
According to the paper, such a step could be implemented nationwide regardless of the incidence. It remains to be seen whether this will actually happen, as the paper is initially a basis for discussion. Usually a lot will change by the time the federal-state talks are over.
Quarantine rules
Easing has been debated for days. It’s about avoiding too many staff absences, especially in key utility areas. Other states have already changed their quarantine rules because of Omikron. The last discussion was about various proposals from the federal and state governments.
What they have in common: The quarantine for contact persons and isolation for infected people should be shortened and simplified. So far, quarantine and isolation can apply for up to 14 days, depending on the virus variant, vaccination and recovery status. When it comes to omicrons, for example, there are no exceptions for those who have been vaccinated or recovered. Now, depending on the proposal, the deadlines could be shortened to five to seven days with free testing and ten days without testing. Quarantine could be omitted for those who are “boosted”.
other topics
Existing rules are not expected to be relaxed. It should remain foreseeable that only vaccinated or convalescent people have access to cinemas, theaters or shops – except for shops for everyday needs. It will be interesting what the federal and state governments have to say on the subject of general vaccination requirements. At the previous meeting on December 21st, it was agreed that the preparations for the “envisaged introduction” of such an obligation should be pushed ahead and that a schedule should be presented at short notice.
Most recently, however, it became apparent that there will be no urgent decision in the Bundestag on mandatory vaccinations because many questions are still open. The federal and state governments should also once again advertise booster vaccinations and reaffirm their appeals to the population to take advantage of the vaccination offers. dpa
#federal #state #governments #discussing #steps