“Emergency brake”: what are Angela Merkel’s new powers to face the pandemic in Germany

The German Parliament on Wednesday approved the “emergency break», A bill from Angela Merkel’s government which imposes unitary action formulas for the whole country in areas with a high incidence of contagion.

The lower house (Bundestag) backed the plan with votes from the grand coalition between conservatives and social democrats. Tomorrow, the plan will be submitted for ratification by the chamber of territorial representation (Bundesrat), with a view to its entry into force scheduled for Saturday.

The objective of this regulation is to increase the powers of the head of government in the fields of health and education, where the regions have so far been competent. For the government, it is crucial to take control of the management of the pandemic, which has killed more than 80,000 people in one year in the country, now hit by a third wave that does not yet appear to have reached its peak.

Specifically, the law gives the chancellor the power to enact severe restrictions until June 30 if infections reach 100 per 100,000 inhabitants..

As of Tuesday, the incidence rate of covid-19 in Germany was 162.4 per 100,000 population. The automatic activation By recourse, it will put an end to the tensions with the regions, whose leaders sometimes soften or even ignore the strict measures decreed by Merkel.

In the face of criticism, the government relaxed its initial plan to ban departures between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. and proposed a less severe curfew between 10 p.m. and midnight, allowing, for example, sports outings, and strict between midnight and 5, except for professional reasons.

But Merkel’s team does not want to ban the idea of ​​a curfew, since they see it as “a sign of the dramatic situation in Germany and that the government is taking it seriously”, summed up the Minister of the Economy Peter Altmaier.

In addition face-to-face lessons will be suspended from 165 cases, although from the age of 100, the obligation to undergo two weekly antigenic tests is implemented.

From a weekly incidence level of 100, contacts or meetings will also be limited, which will only be possible between people living in cohabitation or at most one of more from another household.

Merkel also found it inconceivable that “cries for help” from hospitals, saturated with coronavirus patients in intensive care units, should be ignored.

Health Minister Jens Spahn justified approving the change because he said the situation is “serious, very serious” and assured that vaccines and tests are not sufficient instruments to stop the spread of the disease. virus. “I do not understand the logic of those who say that we must wait until the ICUs are filled,” protested Spahn against those who do not see the need to increase the federal instruments of action through the legal reform approved in the United States. Bundestag.

Merkel’s goal is to establish uniform restrictions across the country. With this it is proposed to avoid the current situation, in which each measure is agreed with the regional powers, but in practice a lack of control is generated in its application, as it depends on the criteria of each “Land”.

The question is not simple in a country which appreciates its federal system., established after Nazism. For example, the introduction of nighttime curfews feeds bad memories in the former Communist GDR.

Thus, the Social Democratic Minister of the Interior of the Thuringia region, Georg Maier, opposed the police monitoring the application of this curfew. “It is a very sensitive issue here in East Germany,” he said.

The population is also divided on this point: An overwhelming majority is in favor of tougher measures such as closing shops and restaurants or limiting contact between people, but only 51% approve of national night curfews., according to a recent survey by public television ZDF.

Outside parliament, thousands of protesters – including conspiracy theorists, deniers and right-wing extremists, as well as other citizens unhappy with the restrictions – were protesting against the bill. The concentration, with about 8,000 spectators according to public television rbb, ended up being dissolved because the rules of distance or use of the mask were not respected.

The number of positive results since the start of the pandemic has risen to 3,188,192 – of which some 2,824,100 are cured patients – and the number of deaths with or from covid-19 exceeds 80,000.

Since the beginning of April, the vaccination campaign has accelerated. Until yesterday, 5,582,992 people had received both doses of the vaccine, 6.7% of the population, and 16,795,784 (20.2%), at least the first.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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