Prime Ministers want a joint plan for further action
In the discussion about an exit from the corona restrictions, Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) is promoting a “master plan” from the federal and state governments. Hans told the newspapers of the Funke media group that the virus would keep us busy all year round. The federal and state governments would have to coordinate their approach and establish understandable criteria. Protection from infection is the priority. The Rhineland-Palatinate head of government Malu Dreyer (SPD) campaigned for one on the ARD Small steps policy. Above all, hygiene must be carefully observed. In the food trade, people would have already adjusted to the situation. If, however, the virus spreads again, stricter measures would have to be determined regionally. The federal government and the states want to advise on the way ahead in the day after tomorrow. The current restrictions apply until the end of the week.
So far, few violations of exit restrictions at Easter
On Easter Sunday, people in Germany largely adhered to the applicable corona restrictions. The police in the federal states were satisfied with the behavior of the citizens. There were only a few minor violations.
In spring-like weather, most of the people in Bavaria stayed at home or just went for a walk in the sun or cycling, according to the rules. The police nevertheless registered some violations, including several parties on Saturday evening. In Weimar and the surrounding area of Thuringia, policemen canceled meetings on several occasions, for example from families who had had a barbecue in fine weather. In the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the number of proceedings initiated after administrative offenses were mostly lower than on the previous weekend, as the cities announced. There was also little work for the police stations in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein as well as in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.
In Hesse, the police directorates did not report any major violations. “The majority behaves exemplary,” said a police spokesman in Kassel. In Berlin, the parks and green areas were well attended, but most people had observed the minimum distance of one and a half meters, said a police spokeswoman. In the late afternoon, the police spoke of a relaxed situation there.
Von der Leyen does not recommend booking your summer vacation
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen advises about the corona pandemic for the time being from booking the summer vacation. “I advise to wait with such plans. No one can make reliable forecasts for July and August at the moment,” she said Picture on Sunday. She expressed skepticism about the federal government’s decision that customers should only receive a voucher for trips that they cannot take due to the corona pandemic and not, as before, a refund of their money. “”Throughout Europe, people have a legal choice as to whether they want the money or a voucher,” said the head of the commission.
However, von der Leyen called on customers who are not financially in need to waive this right. “In this crisis, everyone’s solidarity is required. Those who are financially possible should not insist on money, but should use vouchers to help travel companies bridge these difficult weeks.” The demands of customers should remain secure.
The effects on the tourism industry are noticeable. In 2019, for example, Palma Airport on the Balearic Island of Mallorca recorded 735 flights on Easter Saturday alone, and this year only ten flights were processed, said a spokeswoman for the Aena airport authority. The head of the Mallorcan hotel association FEHM, Maria Frontera, speculated in the local channel IB3 that due to the uncertain situation in the main source markets Germany and Great Britain, some hotels will remain closed even in the main season: “This year there will not be enough visitors for everyone”, she said.
Merz for careful exit from the corona restrictions
Ex Union Group leader Friedrich Merz has clearly behind the course of Chancellor Angela Merkel (both CDU) for a careful and gradual exit from the harsh restrictions due to the Corona crisis posed. “The risk of infection is not averted overnight, and many companies cannot simply be switched on again on day X like a living room lamp,” said the candidate for the CDU chairmanship of the German press agency in Berlin. “So with certain restrictions, we will have to live for quite a while. At the same time, however, it is important to return to normal operations in the companies as soon as possible.”
He assumes that the federal and state governments will explain after Easter in what steps the state can return to normal, said Merz. “Whereby I expect that it will take quite some time until the complete normal state.” All measures would have to be followed until the infection curve flattened to such an extent that the health system could handle the situation. “After Easter, it will be more and more about restoring the performance of our economy,” said Merz. “A nationwide approach would certainly be helpful.”
Attack on police patrol in Frankfurt am Main
Several people stayed in on Good Friday evening Frankfurt am Main two patrol teams of the Police attacked who wanted to control the current Corona assembly ban. The police headquarters in Frankfurt said on Saturday that they had smashed the side window of a police car with a stone. The officials then followed the attackers, but could not catch up with them. Shortly afterward, a second patrol was attacked by about 20 people after leaving their vehicle. Some of the men threatened to move towards the officials with stones, roof battens, and iron bars. Ultimately, however, they would have fled too. No one was injured in the attack.
The officers were successful in the search, the Frankfurt police said. They had arrested six suspects in an apartment between the ages of 23 and 31 and secured a terrorist weapon, daggers, knives, and brass knuckles. The police have initiated criminal proceedings for assaulting officials, attempted dangerous bodily harm, a particularly serious breach of the peace and property damage.
Criticism of professional restriction for dentists
The Bundeszahnarztekammer criticizes the occupational restriction for dentists introduced by Baden-Wurttemberg. The organization said that it was “not proportionate”. Before the long Easter weekend, the state government was the first federal state to decide that dentists may only treat patients with acute illnesses and emergencies. So far, dentists and oral surgeons have been free to continue normal practice. Many were only able to practice to a limited extent because surgical masks or staff were missing. Dentists who are organized in the Association of Innovative Practicing Dentists have recently turned to politicians for help and asked for a treatment ban, as Baden-Wurttemberg has now implemented. The dental associations in the individual federal states reacted differently to the coronavirus.
Federal government increases aid for developing countries
The Federal government wants to support developing countries in the Corona crisis with an additional 150 million euros. As the newspapers of the Funke Media Group reported, this sum should be made available to the World Food Program (WFP). “The poorest people in developing countries are particularly hard hit by the corona crisis,” Development Minister Gerd Muller (CSU) told the Funke newspapers. The people in the completely overcrowded refugee camps are particularly affected, the situation there is dramatic. “We have to do everything we can to prevent these people from starving to death.” According to the report, € 30 million will go to Lebanon and € 56 million to the Sahel region alone.
Muller previously warned of “chaos and civil war” in developing and emerging countries. Large flight movements could also follow, said Muller the Passauer Neue Press. These countries have much weaker health systems than Europe, and the coronavirus will have devastating effects there.
Muller described the conditions in the Greek refugee camp in Moria Passauer Neue Press as a “shame for Europe”. The conditions there are inhuman, there is no such thing in any African refugee camp. The EU must end the situation immediately. If the coronavirus breaks out there, “thousands will die”. The UN refugee agency should, therefore, be given the task of restructuring the camp. That so far hardly any children have been brought out, he commented: “How long do we want to wait? It’s pathetic and shameful.”
