Friday October 22, 2021
A stable legal framework is required
Federal states want to extend the corona emergency
The Prime Ministers would like to avoid a patchwork of corona rules in the coming months as far as possible. In view of the increasing number of new infections, you want to vote against an end to the emergency. Cities and municipalities see this critically.
At the Prime Minister’s Conference near Bonn, a dispute about a possible end to the Corona emergency is emerging. Contrary to what was proposed by the Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn, a large part of the state governments apparently want to extend it again. The governing mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, said at Phoenix that he assumed that a majority of the federal states would vote for the continuation of uniform nationwide corona regulations. A “large majority” will say: “Yes, exactly, we need at least one transitional arrangement,” said the SPD politician. The “federal resolution on Corona” is an important legal framework for the federal states that must continue to exist for at least a transitional period.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder said that the federal states should not be defenseless. If the federal government, as suggested by Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn, does not prolong the epidemic situation, a legal framework for all states is necessary. “The protection of nursing homes and schools, tests, masks, 3G and 2G rules must remain possible,” demanded the CSU boss.
His Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek sees no legally secure alternative to the extension of the so-called epidemic situation by the Bundestag in the fight against the corona pandemic. “Should the epidemic situation of national scope expire, the Infection Protection Act could no longer be applied without further ado,” warned Holetschek in the “Augsburger Allgemeine”.
Health minister fears for legal security
Holetschek said of the possible consequences of the expiry of the epidemic situation that, for example, requirements for test certificates and mask obligations would no longer have an express legal basis. “We absolutely have to avoid that – with a view to possibly increasing numbers of infections in winter, we will need further protective measures.” Bavaria is intensely committed to ensuring that there is also a solid legal basis for corona protective measures in the future.
At its meeting in Königswinter, the Prime Minister’s Conference is advising on how to deal with the pandemic, among other things. The nationwide seven-day incidence of new corona infections rose sharply again and is now 95.1. As the Robert Koch Institute announced, citing data from the health authorities, 19,572 new infections with the corona virus were registered within one day.
The German Association of Towns and Municipalities spoke out in favor of the end of the epidemic situation. General manager Gerd Landsberg said in the RBB that the pandemic had not yet been overcome and that protective measures were still needed. But he does not see an extension of this state of emergency. “I think this is important because it sends a signal to society, people and the economy: We are on the way back – I call it that – to normal operations.”