Chancellor Olaf Scholz and state premiers from across Germany are holding talks on Monday to work out a strategy to deal with soaring coronavirus case numbers. No relaxation of measures was expected, but the certain employment sectors are likely to be prioritized for PCR testing because of a logistical bottleneck.
What changes are expected?
Experts have warned that the high proportion of staff forced to quarantine could cripple critical infrastructure such as health care. Spiraling case numbers and the sheer volume of testing required have stretched laboratory capacities to their limit. As well as health, there are fears that education, transport, and logistics, will also be hit by worker shortages. State and federal leaders are also expected to consider reducing the amount of time following an infection when people are considered to have “recovered” — and become classed as immune. No easing or tightening of coronavirus rules is expected after Germany introduced some of Europe’s toughest measures aimed at reducing spread. These include enhanced requirements for entry to restaurants and bars with already vaccinated individuals also having to show negative tests or proof of a recent booster jab. On any relaxation, Scholz told the Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung ahead of Monday’s meeting that “we don’t need a change of course.” He added that it was “in any case certainly not appropriate to loosen the rules broadly in the middle of the omicron wave.” Talks among state leaders were scheduled ahead of the mid-afternoon meeting with Scholz.
Parliament to debate vaccine mandate
Leaders were not expected to discuss the issue of a possible universal vaccine mandate, something that Scholz and many other senior members of the coalition have said they support. The government has instead left it up to parliament to draft proposals on the issue. Lawmakers were expected to hold a first debate on Wednesday, with several proposals being floated. Germany has reported a string of new case number records in the past two weeks as the omicron strain takes hold. The country’s Robert Koch Institute for disease control on Monday said there had been 840.3 new cases per 100,000 population in the past week, with 63,393 cases over the past 24 hours. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach — a trained epidemiologist — has said he expects numbers to peak in mid-February, with as many as 600,000 new infections per day. rc/rs (AFP, dpa, Reuters, AP)