Decision by the Bundestag
Corona measures: These are the changes to the Infection Protection Act
The 3G rule will soon apply in local and long-distance transport.
© Sven Simon / imago images
Thursday morning began with heated discussions in the Bundestag. With the majority of the traffic light parties, the Bundestag is now changing the catalog of measures for the further fight against the pandemic.
The traffic light parties defended the upcoming changes in the debates. Criticism came from the Left, CDU and AfD, who demanded, among other things, that the pandemic situation should not end on November 25th. The Union threatened to block the resolutions in the Federal Council.
After a decision in the Bundestag: These are the changes in the Infection Protection Act
What does that mean in detail now? As a result of the Bundestag resolution, the epidemic situation will expire as planned on November 25, and with it the previous legal basis for most of the corona protective measures that have been possible so far. There is a so-called transition period until December 15, until this point in time the current measures will remain in effect.
For the period after December 15, the traffic light parties have written a reduced catalog of measures in the Infection Protection Act. The parliaments of the federal states can put this into force individually by resolution.
These corona measures are no longer possible
- Curfews
- Daycare and school closings
- The ban on doing sports
- The prohibition of demonstrations or religious events
- Comprehensive closures of businesses, restaurants and hotels
These corona measures are still possible
- Distance requirement
- Contact restrictions in public and private spaces
- Mask and test compulsory, 3G and 2G access regulations
- Restriction of the number of people and requirements at events, markets, meetings, in companies and facilities, in the catering or hotel industry
- Company closings in individual cases
In contrast to the first draft, the traffic light groups now allow cultural and leisure facilities to be closed across the board and sports events to be banned. Cinemas, theaters, clubs and discos could therefore close again if the state parliaments put the reduced catalog into force.
From which threshold values the federal states will introduce measures is still open
The discussion about the threshold values is one of the main topics of the conference of the Prime Ministers, who will hold a video conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday afternoon. As a matter of principle, the state governments must set threshold values themselves with immediate effect. In this round, scientists will also present their findings on which protective measures could effectively reduce the incidence of infection and hospitalization, as well as the R-value.
In future, the federal states can decide on the measures for three months and then extend them again for three months, but no later than March 19, 2022. The hope of the future traffic light coalition is that the winter wave will be over by then.
These corona rules also apply
- Falsifying vaccination certificates and using false vaccination certificates should become a criminal offense.
- The 3G rule should apply to local and long-distance traffic. Schoolchildren are excluded.
- Employers should have to offer home offices wherever operationally possible.
- Unvaccinated personnel in care facilities must be tested daily. Just like visitors: inside.
- Hospitals should get more money for the treatment of Covid patients.
- The occupational health and safety ordinance should prescribe 3G at workplaces. If you do not want to reveal your vaccination status, you have to be tested daily. Employees who refuse have to work in the home office or be deployed elsewhere. A leave of absence without continued payment of wages or termination in the last resort would also be conceivable.
- Doctors should also offer vaccination appointments in the evenings and on weekends.
Sources used: tagesschau.de, zeit.de