Corona current
Traffic light coalition presents new corona rules
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The potential future government coalition made up of the SPD, FDP and the Greens have agreed on a new legislative package to deal with the corona pandemic. These rules should apply from mid-November.
The epidemic situation in Germany, which formed the basis for many of the nationwide corona rules, ends on November 25. But the coronavirus is not out of the world, on the contrary: Despite the availability of vaccines, the number of infections is rising uncomfortably quickly this winter and the nationwide 7-day incidence is 201 (as of November 8) higher than ever before. In order to keep the infection process manageable, we will need measures beyond November 25th to regulate how to deal with the pandemic. And which are ideally uniform, comprehensible and effective.
The traffic light and likely future governing parties SPD, FDP and Greens have already drawn up a joint legislative package that they would like to present to the Bundestag on Thursday, November 11th, and which should apply until March 19th. In addition to distance rules, mask requirements and mandatory hygiene concepts, the draft provides for the following points or the following points are up for discussion.
1. The end of the epidemic of national importance on November 25th
The traffic light parties do not want to extend the special status of the epidemic situation of national scope after November 25th and agree on this with the current Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU). The status entitles the federal and state governments to issue binding ordinances on how to deal with the pandemic without having to go through the usual voting loops. With the end of the epidemic situation, the responsibility for passing all laws goes back to the parliaments. The main reason for the decision to let the epidemic situation run out is the availability of vaccines that defuse the situation even with high numbers of infections.
2. Reintroduction of free corona tests for all citizens
After the still-federal government decided to end the free corona tests on October 11, the possibly future government intends to reintroduce them. With the entry into force of the new regulations, both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should be able to be tested again free of charge without having to give specific reasons (suspected infection, symptoms). (This point is not yet included in the draft law, but apparently desired by the traffic light parties.)
3. No nationwide lockdown, no nationwide 2-G rule
While in some federal states such as Saxony many areas of public life (for example indoor restaurants and cinemas) are only accessible to vaccinated or recovered people, the traffic light parties nationwide want to dispense with such an exclusion of unvaccinated people. Where the incidences are particularly high, the 2-G rule makes sense, the media quote the Green politician Ricarda Lang, but it is not necessary across Germany. The parties rule out any kind of nationwide lockdown for all or only certain groups of people.
4. The 3-G rule in the workplace
In order to ensure safety when performing the job, the traffic light coalition would like to introduce the 3-G rule for people who (cannot) work from home. Means: Employees who (want or have to) use their workplace, which their employer makes available to them, must in future be able to prove that they have been vaccinated, have recovered or have just been tested.
5. Obligation to test for employees and visitors to health and care facilities
The traffic light parties are planning to create legal certainty in order to introduce compulsory testing in the health and care sector – for vaccinated, unvaccinated and convalescent people. In this way, groups of people who are particularly at risk from the virus are to be protected even better.
6. Monitoring of booster vaccinations
Booster vaccinations, as well as first and second vaccinations, should be better recorded in the future so that people who need a booster vaccination but have not yet received it can be actively invited to it.
Sources used: zeit.de, tagesschau.de, deutschlandfunk.de, fr.de