KContacts in public space are limited to ten people in Hesse, children up to 15 years of age are not included. For domestic meetings, the country leaves it with a recommendation and a serious warning, as Prime Minister Volker Bouffier announced on Thursday. If there are not vaccinated or not recovered people, only meetings from one household and a maximum of two people from another household are allowed.
After the federal-state resolutions on new restrictions due to the Omikron variant, the Hessian Corona Cabinet had previously met and found a “paradoxical situation”, as Prime Minister Volker Boufier said in the morning. The indicators of hospitalization incidence and bed occupancy in corona intensive care units point in the right direction, on the other hand, the new, spreading virus variant Omikron is considered very contagious.
“We have no reason to panic, but every reason to be careful and take the greatest possible precaution,” said Bouffier. The resolutions that have now been announced are therefore valid for a short time. Nobody can say what the situation will be like in three weeks. “It is not a situation of relaxation, but of great tension”. Bouffier called for testing before meetings. The new resolutions come into force on December 28th and are to apply until January 13th.
Only “recommendation” for meetings at home
According to the federal-state meeting, the following applies to large events: spectators are excluded from events with a supraregional character. This applies to culture, sport and other parts of public life. The catch is: Nobody can define what “supra-regional” means. Hessen takes the limit of 250 participants as a criterion for a major event. “The usual hygiene rules naturally apply,” says Bouffier. Clubs and dance halls would have to close, just like in hotspots like Offenbach. Hessen will revise its specifications with a view to the critical infrastructure such as the health system and the police.
“We have to take preventive action,” said Health Minister Kai Klose (The Greens), referring to London. The city declared a disaster three days ago because of Omikron. “It remains to be understood over the holidays: The situation is serious.”
“Politics overslept a bit again”
According to the Frankfurt virologist Martin Stürmer, the resolutions of the federal-state round to contain the corona pandemic come too late. “With the doubling rate that Omikron shows, every day is important,” said Stürmer loudly on Wednesday on Deutschlandfunk. Omikron was not just a threat since yesterday. Politicians could well be accused of having “overslept again” with the late meeting.
“Of course we all want to get back to normal. We want to enjoy these holidays and take a break. But I don’t think we can send the signal to relax, ”said Striker. He had the feeling that the signal was being conveyed, “We can still relax over Christmas, then we will apply the brakes again”. The chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission, Thomas Mertens, also pleads for new restrictions to come into force “very quickly”. It is important to severely restrict contacts between people.
Bouffier rejected the virologist criticism. Politicians reacted within a few days. And resolutions cannot be implemented overnight. It’ll take a few days.
Klose praises vaccination alliance
The Prime Minister and his Minister of Health also highlighted the importance of vaccination. So far, a good 69 percent of people have been completely vaccinated against Corona. Hesse is making good progress with vaccination, said Bouffier. Klose praised the efforts of the Hessian vaccination alliance, which also includes doctors in private practice. Hesse even exceeded its partially ridiculed goal of more than 400,000 vaccinations per week. The situation in nursing homes shows how much vaccination helps. There are currently only 350 corona patients in all of Hesse, all of whom experienced mild courses of the infection. Before the first vaccinations, on the other hand, several thousand retirement home residents died of or with Covid-19. Boosters do not help against an infection, but protect against a severe course.