Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

COVID-19 RULES

Germany should ‘return to normality’ on March 20th, says MP

The head of the FDP parliamentary group wants Covid protection measures in Germany to be dropped by March when the legislation is due to expire.

Published: 10 February 2022 17:37 CET
A government ad for vaccination in Cologne.
A government ad for vaccination in Cologne. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Oliver Berg

“On March 20th, Germany should return to normality, because that’s when the (Covid-19) measures expire, unless the Bundestag actively decides to extend them,” FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr told Germany’s Funke Mediengruppe on Thursday. 

“The yardstick for corona restrictions must always be the burden on the health system,” Dürr said. “Fortunately, this overload no longer exists.”

Dürr said clinics in Germany were coping well with the Omicron wave. 

“Therefore, we should start today to withdraw the restrictions on freedom, step by step, and phase them out by March 19th – more than a month from now.”

It comes after Gerald Gaß, head of the German Hospital Association, said he “no longer” expected the German health care system to be overloaded due to the Omicron variant. 

READ ALSO: German hospitals ‘won’t get overwhelmed in Omicron wave’

At the end of 2021, the Bundestag decided not to extend the so-called epidemic emergency of national importance. The parliament instead amended the Infection Protection Act, which allowed strict Covid-19 measures to continue. This legislation is in place until March 19th, 2022. 

The law can be extended by three months if voted on by the German Bundestag.

Dürr said that the vast majority of people in Germany had supported the tough restrictions, and politicians should not leave them in place for longer than necessary. 

Under the current rules, unvaccinated people are barred from most public places, and vaccinated and recovered people need to show proof of a Covid test or booster to access many venues. Clubs are also closed. 

The FDP's Christian Dürr gives a statement at his party's digital parliamentary group meeting.

The FDP’s Christian Dürr gives a statement at his party’s digital parliamentary group meeting. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

If the health system is in danger of becoming overloaded in future, the Bundestag can act at short notice, Dürr said, adding that new regulations for the mask requirement to continue in places like public transport may be needed after the March deadline. 

Earlier on Thursday, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said he expected a debate on relaxations at the next Covid summit between the federal and state governments on February 16th, but warned that Germany should “not relax too quickly”.

“We still have rising case numbers, the likes of which we have never had before,” he said, adding that easing restrictions too quickly could see the pandemic prolonged, and result in more deaths due to the lower vaccination rate among older people.

On Thursday Germany reported 247,862 Covid infections and 238 deaths within the latest 24 hour period. The 7-day incidence stood at 1,465.4 infections per 100,000 residents.

Member comments

  1. Pingback: Anonymous
Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

COVID-19 RULES

Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

Three years after Germany introduced a series of protective measures against the coronavirus, the last are set to be repealed on Friday.

Published: 6 April 2023 10:42 CEST
Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

The remaining restrictions – or the requirement to wear a mask in surgeries, clinics and nursing homes – are falling away a couple of days after German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) made an announcement that the Covid-19 pandemic is “over.”

“We have successfully managed the pandemic in Germany,” said Lauterbach at a press conference on Wednesday.

In light of low infection numbers and virus variants deemed to be less dangerous, Germany has been steadily peeling away the last of its longstanding measures. 

READ ALSO: Germany monitoring new Covid variant closely, says Health Minister

The obligation to wear a mask on public transport was lifted on February 2nd. 

During the height of the pandemic between 2020 and 2021, Germany introduced its strictest measures, which saw the closure of public institutions including schools and daycare centres (Kitas).

“The strategy of coping with the crisis had been successful overall,” said Lauterbach, while also admitting: “I don’t believe that the long school closures were entirely necessary.”

Since the first coronavirus cases in Germany were detected in January 2020, there have been over 38 million reported cases of the virus, and 171,272 people who died from or with the virus, according to the Robert Koch Institute. 

Voluntary measures

In surgeries and clinics, mask rules can remain in place on a voluntary basis – which some facilities said they would consider based on their individual situations. 

“Of course, practices can stipulate a further obligation to wear masks as part of their house rules, and likewise everyone can continue to wear a mask voluntarily,” the head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, told DPA.

But Gassen said it was good there would no longer be an “automatic obligation”, and that individuals could take the responsibility of protecting themselves and others into their own hands. 

READ ALSO: Is the pandemic over in Germany?

“Hospitals are used to establishing hygiene measures to protect their patients, even independently of the coronavirus,” the head of the German Hospital Association (DKG), Gerald Gaß, told DPA.

With the end of the last statutory Covid measures, he said, we are entering “a new phase” in dealing with this illness. 

“Hospitals will then decide individually according to the respective situation which measures they will take,” he said, for example based on the ages and illnesses of the patients being treated.

SHOW COMMENTS