Lockdown for Germany! First Minister admits – Lockdown more and more likely!

Currently, the Corona pandemic is threatening to get out of control again in Germany. The high infection figures of the last year were supposed to be a thing of the past. But on Friday, a record 37,120 new cases of infection with Covid-19 were reported. This means that the incidence value in Germany has risen to 169.3. Now even the first warnings of a renewed lockdown are being voiced.

For now, Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer has warned that there could soon be a debate in which a new lockdown could be in the offing. “We do know that in ten days we have an absolute ‘land under’ in some hospitals,” the CDU politician told Deutschlandfunk radio. “We don’t have time. If we take too much time now, it will end with a lockdown like last year,” Kretschmer predicted already. Therefore, Kretschmer demands, among other things, the resumption of the free Corona tests. In addition, the top Saxon politician pleaded for the extension of economic aid for hospitals until 2022, so that they can continue to accept more patients.

Kretschmer’s forecast on a new lockdown had the outgoing Health Minister Jens Spahn (41, CDU) to the TV station RTL as unlikely. According to Spahn, the instrument of vaccination, which has led to the fact that again “quite a lot of everyday life is possible”, speaks against it. “It is only important that this is and remains an everyday life with caution,” Spahn warned the German citizens. Therefore, Spahn recommended to stick to the 3G rules for vaccinated, recovered and tested. In addition, Spahn called on the hospitality industry to tighten controls on access rules. The German Hotel and Restaurant Association had also called on establishments to implement government requirements as consistently as possible. “Without ifs and buts: the applicable Corona protection measures must be complied with by all establishments. This includes in particular the consistent access control,” clarified the chief executive of the Association, Ingrid Hartges, on Friday

On Thursday, the Robert Koch Institute had then also tightened the risk assessment of the current situation. For unvaccinated people, the RKI upgraded the risk of infection with Covid-19 from “high” to “very high”, “For fully vaccinated people, the risk is assessed as moderate, but increasing due to rising infection rates,” the latest RKI weekly report said, which the previous week had spoken only of a “moderate” risk for the vaccinated. In addition, the RKI reassured German citizens by emphasizing that “according to current knowledge, all vaccines available in this country effectively protect against severe disease when fully vaccinated.” On Friday, the health ministers of the federal and state governments want to discuss possible new measures at a meeting.