BHealth Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) believes that the corona measures will only be relaxed in a few weeks. Lauterbach said on Sunday at Picture TV: “I believe that we will relax well before Easter.” He was “firmly convinced” of that. The prerequisite, however, is that the omicron wave reaches its peak in mid-February, as expected. “You can’t distribute the bear’s skin before it’s shot,” warned Lauterbach.
The Minister of Health could imagine that easing would be discussed at the next prime ministerial conference. Whether there will actually be any easing “depends on how we stand then.”
At the moment, Lauterbach is strictly against easing: he thinks it would be “crazy” if the measures were relaxed with the maximum number of infected people and a working strategy. The minister asked: “What would happen in Germany if we proceeded as in England?”
His answer: “Then we would have roughly estimated 300 deaths per day. But we have significantly fewer, namely 60 to 80.” With the measures “we save lives every day,” emphasized Lauterbach.
Lauterbach again campaigned for general compulsory vaccination: “If we actually got compulsory vaccination in autumn, then I think the spook will be largely over because we will close the vaccination gaps.” The minister made it clear that this was only for compulsory vaccination for everyone Adults over the age of 18: “If we make vaccination compulsory from the age of 50 or for every second person, then we later had a huge debate about compulsory vaccination, but the problem has still not been solved.” In the group of 18 to 50 year olds there are many who could also become seriously ill and who need to be protected.
Lauterbach was confident that he would be able to get vaccinations through the Bundestag even against the threat of resistance from the Union around the CDU chairman Friedrich Merz: “I think even then – with all due respect to Friedrich Merz and the size of the CDU, which also sat differently in the Bundestag before – we still get the majority.”
To Wieler: “This was not okay”
Lauterbach meanwhile criticized the President of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Lothar Wieler, for his poor communication of the reduction of the corona recovery status from six to three months: “This was not okay,” he told Bild TV. It is not acceptable that he, as a minister, finds out at the same time as the citizens that there is a new status. “That is clear, and it has been discussed openly.” That should “not be repeated”.
At the same time, the minister saw no reason for personal consequences: Wieler had “done very important and good work for two years and I continue to have my trust. As simple as that.”
The background to the discussion is that the designated FDP Secretary General, Bijan Djir-Sarai, told the “Spiegel” that Wieler could no longer be sure of the “trust of the FDP”. The communication debacle about the recovered status was “not an isolated case”. Shortly before Christmas, Wieler had already come under criticism when his authority promoted stricter measures shortly before a federal-state summit, without Lauterbach saying that this had been agreed with him.
All developments in the live ticker:
5:39 a.m. – Sven Väth: Celebration culture will be “perhaps even more intense” after Corona
DJ legend Sven Väth (57) is convinced that the celebration culture after the Corona pandemic will be at least as excessive as before. “I think maybe it will get even more intense. The hunger is so great,” he told the German Press Agency. People’s longing for the dance floor is enormous. He recently had individual opportunities to perform in different corners of the world: “Some people cried. It was so emotionally charged. I stood there too, an old hand, with goosebumps and thought what beautiful moments these are.”
05.04 -Australia opens borders from February 21
Australia will reopen its borders to all vaccinated visa holders from February 21 after almost two years, according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. “If you are doubly vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia,” Morrison said at a news conference.
04:56 – President of Honduras positive
The new head of state of Honduras has been infected with the corona virus. “Yesterday’s PCR test result was negative, today’s is positive,” said 62-year-old Xiomara Castro on Twitter on Sunday (local time). However, the symptoms are mild. “With the blessing of the Creator of the universe” she will continue to deal with the “government plan to return to the democratic and constitutional order” from the isolation.
At the end of January, Castro became the first woman to take over the office of President in the Central American country. According to her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya, Castro is doubly vaccinated.
4:17 a.m. – RKI reports 95,267 new infections – incidence increases to 1426.0
The seven-day incidence of new corona infections in Germany has reached another high. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), it was 1426.0 nationwide on Monday morning. On Sunday it was 1400.8, on Monday last week it was 1176.8. The incidence quantifies the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over a period of seven days.
As the RKI announced, citing data from the health authorities, the number of new infections within 24 hours on Monday morning was 95,267 – after 133,173 on Sunday and 78,318 on Monday last week. As the RKI further announced, 49 other deaths related to the corona virus were also recorded on Monday.
According to the RKI, the health authorities have recorded a total of 11,117,857 cases of infection since the beginning of the pandemic. The total number of registered corona deaths in Germany is now 118,766. The RKI puts the number of people who have recovered from corona disease in Germany at around 8,142,100.
4:03 a.m. – Health politician Weishaupt wants to extend individual measures
The Greens chairwoman in the Health Committee, Saskia Weishaupt, is in favor of an extension of individual corona protection measures by the Bundestag beyond March. “We have a responsibility to protect the health and life of all people, which also includes not simply announcing hasty openings and easing,” says the Green politician of the “Augsburger Allgemeine” newspaper.
The question of how the protective measures against infection should continue after March 19 is being worked on at full speed. “Personally, I see the need to extend individual measures in particular.”
4 a.m. – Watzl demands equality of infection and vaccination
The immunologist Carsten Watzl calls on the federal government to legally equate proven omicron infections with a booster vaccination. “A clearly documented infection should be equated with a single vaccine dose for each affected person,” says the Secretary General of the German Immunological Society of the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. The fact that vaccinated people are not considered boosted after an infection is scientifically untenable. “There is very good data that here, too, those who have recovered should be given equal treatment.” However, one infection is not enough for full vaccination protection. “People who have never been vaccinated receive the protection of a single vaccination if they have had an omicron infection. Three doses are important, whether through infection or vaccination.”
2:00 a.m. – General Practitioners’ Association sees the population tired of vaccinations
According to the General Practitioners’ Association of North Rhine-Westphalia, corona fatigue is spreading among the population. “Overall, test fatigue has probably arisen among the population. Many who should be in quarantine as contact persons are not,” says Oliver Funken, head of the North Rhine General Practitioners Association, of the newspaper “Rheinische Post”.
So far, only boosted contacts have been exempted from the quarantine obligation. The patients also reacted indifferently to the recent Stiko decision for a fourth vaccination. “Patients are hardly surprised anymore. Many have already asked about the second booster during the booster vaccination. We do not expect another run on the practices.”
10:49 p.m. – Ottawa declares a state of emergency after trucker protests
The mayor of Ottawa has declared a state of emergency over the ten-day protests by truck drivers in the Canadian capital. The move reflects “the serious danger and threat to the security of citizens” posed by the demonstrations, said Jim Watson. He does not say what measures are to be taken. In central Ottawa, many streets are blocked by hundreds of trucks.
The police again called on the demonstrators on Sunday to leave the city center. There was a disturbance of the peace overnight. Since Saturday, they have issued more than 450 fines, including for dangerous driving and noise pollution. Several people were taken into custody and almost 100 cases, including allegations of hate crimes, are being investigated, the police said.
The “Freedom Convoy” was originally intended as a protest against compulsory vaccination for certain drivers. In the meantime, it has developed into a demonstration against pandemic measures in general and against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.