Chancellor Angela Merkel has called the pandemic situation in the country “dramatic”. The Bundestag has approved the reform of the law on protection against infectious diseases.
Germany will impose the compulsory vaccination on professionals from “sensitive” sectors, such as medical personnel or in contact with vulnerable people, and will restrict access to public life to the unvaccinated when certain levels of incidence and hospitalizations are exceeded.
The outgoing Chancellor, Angela Merkel, today announced a comprehensive package of measures together with his likely successor, the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, after meeting with regional leaders and before the alarm by the successive records of incidence, which today rose to 336.9 infections in seven days per 100,000 inhabitants in Germany.
The seven-day admission rate is 5.15 per 100,000 inhabitants and that of citizens with the complete vaccination schedule is 67.7%, one of the lowest levels in Western Europe.
Sources present at the meeting of the German authorities cited by the DPA news agency have confirmed that the facilities focused on leisure, culture or sports, among others, will only be accessible to people with the full vaccination schedule or who are have recovered from covid-19.
The restrictions will take effect when the rate of hospitalizations due to the disease reaches number 3. That is, there are three people hospitalized for a cause related to Covid-19 per 100,000 people in the last week.
Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with her likely successor, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz. Photo: EFE
If the rate stays below 3 in five days, the restrictions will be eased. Children under the age of 18 – the vast majority of those unvaccinated in Germany – are exempt from complying with the limitations.
On the other hand, if the rate exceeds the number 6, those with the complete vaccination scheme or who have recovered from covid-19 will have to present a negative diagnostic test for the disease to access public facilities.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has called the pandemic situation in the country “dramatic”. In the meeting with the regional heads of government, the president insisted that it is an “emergency” and has warned that the vaccination rate is not enough to stop the fourth wave of infections.
Bundestag
The Bundestag (lower house of the German Parliament) today approved the reform of the law to protect against infectious diseases that social democrats, greens and liberals want to serve as the basis for future measures against the coronavirus pandemic, which is rebounding strongly in the country, such as the telework recommendation.
Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals the conservative bloc and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) voted in favor of the reform promoted by them, and the Left abstained; it was thus approved by 398 votes in favor, 254 against and 36 abstentions.
The parties that negotiate the future governing coalition thus seek to guarantee the legal framework for future measures once the so-called epidemic situation of national scope expires on the 25th, which allows the Länder to introduce restrictions without the approval of the parliaments.
Transfer of patients abroad
Germany has already transferred some patients abroad amid increased hospital pressure. In 100 out of 400 districts there is only one free bed and there are 50 districts that no longer have free beds in intensive care.
The situation is especially dramatic in Bavaria (southern Germany) and Baden-Württenberg (southwest). That led to two patients being transferred by helicopter from Munich to Bolzano (northern Italy), according to the director of the Freising hospital in Munich, the Bavarian capital, Rainald Kaube.
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