Cabinet agrees on “federal emergency brake”

The cabinet has agreed on uniform corona measures. From an incidence of 100, a night curfew should apply. However, the Bundestag does not want to adopt the emergency brake in a fast-track process.

The people in large parts of Germany have to adjust to exit restrictions and closed shops according to nationally binding guidelines. The Federal Cabinet has decided to change the Infection Protection Act accordingly. However, the Bundestag does not want to pass the so-called Corona emergency brake in a fast-track process – it learned that ARD capital studio from coalition circles. Accordingly, the parliamentary groups do not want to waive certain deliberation deadlines, which is possible in principle and which would have made it possible for a parliamentary resolution to be passed this week. The amendment to the Infection Protection Act includes, among other things, a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. if the seven-day incidence is over 100 on three consecutive days in a rural district or urban district. This means that within a week there are more than 100 newly infected people for every 100,000 inhabitants. In these cases, members of a household are only allowed to meet with one other person. A maximum of five people can come together, not including children under 14 years of age.

Requirements for shop closings

The opening of cultural and leisure facilities such as theaters, museums or zoos will then be prohibited, as will accommodation offers for tourist purposes. Shops that do not serve daily needs also have to close again. Food retailers, beverage stores, health food stores, baby specialty stores, pharmacies, medical supply stores, drug stores, opticians, hearing aid acousticians, gas stations, newspaper sales outlets, bookstores, flower shops, pet stores, animal feed markets and garden centers are to be excluded. According to the resolution, services that serve medical, therapeutic, nursing or pastoral purposes as well as hairdressers – each with a mask – should be opened. The practice of sport should only be allowed in the form of contactless practice of individual sports. They should be allowed to be exercised alone, in pairs or with members of your own household. There are also exceptions for the competition and training operations of professional athletes and competitive athletes of the national and state squads, but only without spectators.

For schools incidence of 200 relevant

Precise lessons should only be permitted with two corona tests per week. The schools do not have to stop their face-to-face teaching, however, if the incidence value of 200 cases has been exceeded for three consecutive days. This also applies to vocational schools, universities, adult education institutions and similar institutions. Exceptions for graduating classes and special needs schools are possible. The brake also applies to daycare centers, but the federal states can enable emergency care. The cabinet also decided to increase the paid childhood days per parent from the current 20 to 30 days. Parents can also take advantage of these childhood illness days to look after their children when schools and daycare centers are closed.

Merkel: “Ambiguities are over”

Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the planned federal law in a statement: The nationwide uniform “emergency brake” was “overdue”. It is true that the citizens understand that measures differ from region to region. According to the Chancellor, however, ambiguities about “what, when and where” will be a thing of the past with the new legal regulation. With the new law, the “emergency brake” is no longer a “matter of interpretation”. The decision on the law is an “equally important and urgent decision on how to proceed in the corona pandemic”. Merkel emphasized once again that the situation was serious and that everyone should take it seriously. “We mustn’t abandon the doctors and nurses who have been giving everything for over a year, we have to help them.” All measures would have the “only goal of leading our whole country out of the phase of steadily increasing numbers of infections, the filling intensive care units and the shockingly high daily number of corona deaths.” Merkel thanked the citizens for “their patience, insight and care for others”. “We have already managed to bring the numbers down to a controllable level and we will do that again,” said the Chancellor. The cabinet proposal is then to be discussed in the coalition groups. The new rules should then be decided by the Bundestag in an accelerated procedure, if possible, and passed through the Bundesrat. However, the express consent of the regional chamber is not required. At most, the Federal Council could raise an objection.

The law is to apply for a limited period of time

Overall, the amendment to the law should only apply for the duration of the determination by the Bundestag of an epidemic situation of national significance. This is currently June 30th.