Thursday November 11, 2021
Prime Minister in the “early start”
Kretschmer calls for the cancellation of Christmas markets
New high: more than 50,000 new infections per day. Saxony’s Prime Minister Kretschmer is therefore in favor of foregoing Christmas markets. He makes serious accusations against the traffic light parties.
Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer has called for the cancellation of Christmas markets in view of the rapidly increasing corona numbers. “You can’t imagine standing at the Christmas market, drinking mulled wine and everything in the hospitals is over and you’re fighting for the last resources,” said the CDU politician in the “ntv early start”. The federal and state governments would have to relieve mayors, district administrators and market operators of this difficult decision.
Kretschmer accused the parties of a possible traffic light coalition with unusually drastic words of not reacting quickly enough to the fourth corona wave. “I think this is a culpable hesitation, which in no way does justice to this situation in Germany.” He called for decisions from the federal and state governments before November 25th. On this day, the future coalition’s Corona law is expected to come into force.
“The way the new government that is now opening acts is much too slow,” said Kretschmer. If the infection dynamics continue until November 25th as in the past two weeks, that would be a “terrible” development. “The child has already fallen into the well. Now it’s a matter of getting it out.” He criticized again that the SPD, Greens and FDP want to let the epidemic emergency run out. “How can a traffic light coalition come up with the idea of telling the population that it is over.”
Saxony doubles the number of mobile vaccination teams
The Prime Minister also spoke out in favor of paying the hospitals an empty bed flat rate again if they keep beds free for corona patients. Spa and rehabilitation clinics should be set up quickly as auxiliary hospitals. Kretschmer also advocates an obligation to provide information to the employer as to whether an employee has been vaccinated or has recovered. He announced that Saxony would now more than double the number of mobile vaccination teams in order to quickly create more first, second and third vaccinations.
The Prime Minister attributed the drastically increasing number of infections to the significantly more contagious Delta variant and the low vaccination rate. “The refusal of a large part of the population to be vaccinated is now taking massive revenge.” The CDU politician warned that the hospitals in Saxony would soon become overloaded. During a visit to Saxon Switzerland yesterday, Wednesday, he saw that clinics had already arrived at the border. “And with incidences of 500, 600, up to 800 and 900 we can also expect a very clear disease situation. This is now occurring.”
It is all the more important that the current and future federal governments act quickly, said Kretschmer. For example, with the free rapid tests, it took a week from the commitment to reintroduce to the decision. It would take another week for them to be deployed. “In this pandemic situation, everything is far too slow.”
Praise for Merkel because of Putin’s phone call
Kretschmer also spoke about the current conflict on the border between Poland and Belarus. Thousands of migrants are stuck there, soldiers and security forces from both countries face each other. Kretschmer praised the efforts of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call to influence the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. “It shows once again what an impressive personality Angela Merkel is,” said Kretschmer. “At this stage, too, she calls and takes care of things.” One should never let the thread of the conversation with Moscow break. “We have often been criticized for wanting to have a sensible relationship with Russia.”
It is now also a question of supporting Poland. The country has a very difficult humanitarian and moral situation to cope with on its border. Lukashenko is playing a perfidious game, said Kretschmer. One must win this fight, also for the Belarusian people, who trust in a strong EU. Regarding the migrants, Kretschmer said: “The people who are arriving here now will be treated properly.” But he also insisted on robust border protection from the EU. “The external border must be safe. It must also be impermeable in a certain point so that we do not need any borders or border controls within the European Union.”