Sunday, November 28th, 2021
Rejection of demands on the federal government
Heil calls for “locally tougher measures”
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Söder is sharply critical of the traffic light parties and calls on them to take stricter corona measures. Labor Minister Heil from the SPD, on the other hand, calls on the federal states to exhaust the measures that have been decided. The federal and state governments are in constant contact anyway.
The managing minister of labor, Hubertus Heil, has rejected calls for new corona measures by the federal government and instead called on the states to consistently apply the measures that have already been decided. “We have a dramatic situation – especially in Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony – and we now have a new threat with the new variant from South Africa,” said the SPD politician at ntv. Therefore, at this point in time, no necessary measures can be ruled out.
“I am in favor of the decided measures being applied consistently at the federal and state levels,” said Heil. In this context, he mentioned 3G at work and the issue of home office. “That concerns the need to take tougher measures locally to protect people,” he said. All citizens now also have a certain responsibility to behave carefully, wear masks, comply with rules in everyday life and ensure that contacts are limited to what is necessary, also in personal and professional matters.
Heil commented evasively on calls for an early Prime Minister’s Conference. “It is important that action is taken,” he said. Some have already been implemented, all others have to be coordinated now. “This is why this crisis team is being set up in the Chancellery. It is high time that there was no party-political dispute about this, but that the necessary measures to protect the population were taken.”
The federal and state governments are in constant contact, said the acting minister, who could also belong to the new federal government. He assumes “that the necessary measures, which are already possible now, will be taken and that if further measures are necessary, an understanding will be reached quickly”.
Söder calls for a federal emergency brake
Heil also welcomed Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s call to limit social contacts as much as possible. “We have to protect people’s lives and therefore no measure can be ruled out. All necessary measures must be taken,” said the SPD politician. In a guest post in “Bild am Sonntag”, Steinmeier called on citizens to voluntarily restrict their contact. “It is important that we all act together now,” wrote the head of state. “Let’s do it so that schools and daycare centers don’t close again, so that we don’t have to shut down public life completely.”
“Above all, it is important that many people get vaccinated,” said Minister Heil. This is the only way to get out of the pandemic as a society. “It’s a question of personal responsibility, but also of solidarity, for example with those who toil in intensive care units.”
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder had previously called on the future federal government to take drastic measures. “To protect our health system, we unfortunately have to shut down the whole country even more,” said the CSU head of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “The whole of Germany is heading for an emergency, the coming federal government can no longer sit and watch.” A federal emergency brake would have to be decided this week, demanded Söder. “We need a uniform corona management for all of Germany again and not a patchwork quilt. That is why we need a conference of prime ministers and a new law that does justice to the dramatic situation as soon as possible.”