Berlin – Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is once again consulting with the Prime Ministers of the federal states on the fight against the coronavirus crisis. The current development of new infections in Germany is to be assessed.
It should also be a kind of evaluation of the previous anti-corona measures. The federal and state governments had passed strict contact restrictions for people on March 22, which should apply at least until April 5. These measures should now be extended. Currently, there is also a discussion about the requirement for a mask.
However, many countries had already decided on contact restrictions by April 20 – the Easter holidays of the students often end on this day. Brandenburg and Saxony extended the measures on Tuesday. Chancellor-in-chief Helge Braun (CDU) said at the weekend that the development in the number of new infections gave the Federal Government no reason to consider lifting measures.
Merkel, like the cabinet meeting in the morning (9.30 a.m.), will again conduct the conference call from her apartment in Berlin. She went into quarantine at home on March 22 after a coronavirus had been diagnosed by a doctor who had given her preventive vaccination. No infection was found in the Chancellor’s third test on Monday.
There is further discussion about a mask requirement. Austria announced one at the beginning of the week and thus triggered a debate on the subject in Germany as well. The first municipalities in Thuringia have now rushed ahead and have announced that masks are required in supermarkets, buses, and trains.
The FDP traffic politician Oliver Luksic advocated that passengers on buses and trains wear a face mask. The member of the Bundestag told the German press agency: “In Germany schools, playgrounds and most shops are closed. In local public transport, passengers drive in a few, often full vehicles at the same time. ” Especially in the current situation, wearing a face mask offers a certain level of safety for all passengers and makes sense so that citizens can safely use local public transport.
The SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach told the “Passauer Neue Presse” (Wednesday): “If we have enough high-quality medical masks to supply the medical staff and the population at the same time, it would be mandatory to wear a mask in local public transport or in Supermarkets definitely make sense. ” He sees the obligation for a self-made mask critical. There are no studies that such masks bring anything. “On the contrary: A damp, self-made mask that is then touched would increase the risk for those affected. A mouthguard requirement would only make sense with medical masks. ”
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn had spoken out on Tuesday against the obligation to wear protective masks in Germany. “In the current situation, I see no need for an obligation,” said the CDU politician on Tuesday in Dusseldorf.
