Tuesday March 23, 2021
Lockdown continues
Resolutions met with little enthusiasm
The extended lockdown and stricter measures over Easter are met with mixed feedback. As expected, the retail association is unhappy with ongoing closings, and the travel association would like more travel options. Criticism also comes from the district day.
In the economy, the new resolutions by the federal and state governments in the fight against the Corona crisis are met with little enthusiasm. The German Trade Association (HDE) reacted disappointed to the continued lockdown, including closed shops, and was backed by the FDP. The German Travel Association can still gain something positive from the measures, but is also in favor of more holiday opportunities in Germany. Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch accuses the government of incompetence.
The HDE explained in Berlin that the corona policy focuses exclusively on incidences and does not sufficiently reward the fact that the risks of infection in retail are also assessed as low by experts. “The federal and state governments are now only operating in tunnel mode. The sole fixation on the corona incidence values does not do justice to the complex situation.”
The measures had to be based on the scientific facts – and they showed that the risk of infection when shopping is low, explained HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth. It is therefore “high time” to draw the appropriate conclusions and reopen all shops in compliance with strict hygiene concepts.
FDP boss Christian Lindner criticized the result of the corona consultations as “too sharp” and “too little innovative”. “It is a shocking lack of concept that the principle ‘We stay at home’ is still the central answer to the pandemic even after more than a year,” Lindner told the radio station WDR 5.
Travel association for more tests
The President of the German Travel Association, Norbert Fiebig, welcomes the fact that, according to the latest decisions by the federal and state governments, not all return travelers should be subject to an obligation to quarantine. It makes sense to rely on compulsory testing instead, said Fiebig in the morning on ARD. In his view, the domestic travel options depend “on the individual conditions” at the respective location, said Fiebig. “Wherever it is justifiable for health reasons,” it should also be checked in Germany whether it is possible to travel with overnight stays. Fiebig also advises against making comparisons between Germany and the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca. The incidence values there are significantly lower, and comparisons between home and abroad are not expedient.
The Brazilian mutant is already rampant in Germany, emphasized Fiebig. That is why security must now be increased, above all through more tests. Fiebig said it was still open who should pay for these tests for all those returning to travel, as the federal and state governments have now decided. Financing through the airlines or tour operators would be possible.
County day: Can not prevent every death
The German District Assembly has criticized the lockdown decisions of the federal and state governments as disproportionate. “It will not be possible through government measures to prevent every corona death,” said district council president Reinhard Sager to the newspapers of the Funke media group. Politicians have “not yet found a good balance” when weighing up the consequences of the pandemic “for life and limb” and the effects of the restrictions on fundamental rights.
The district council president warned that people could no longer understand the decisions – for example for the retail sector. “That frustrates the people and the entrepreneurs.” In addition, it is “strange” that travelers fly to Mallorca but are not allowed to go on vacation to the North and Baltic Seas.
The left-wing parliamentary group leader Bartsch sees responsibility for the extended lockdown in the federal government. The continuation of the measures until April 18, as the federal and state governments had agreed on Tuesday night, was “essentially a ‘because-it-the-federal-government-screwed-lockdown'”, Bartsch told the newspapers of the spark Media group. “The Chancellor and her ministers should apologize to the citizens in order to encourage new confidence in the measures.” Bartsch listed a number of areas in which, in his opinion, the government is doing poorly: “Vaccination, testing, digitization: the country is playing far below its potential”.
The federal and state governments agreed on Tuesday night to continue the currently applicable measures to contain the corona until April 18. A tightened lockdown should apply from Maundy Thursday to Easter Monday. All shops should then remain closed, only food retailers can open on Holy Saturday.
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