Berlin, Nov. 17, (dpa/GNA) – Talks between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the premiers of Germany’s 16 states on further anti-coronavirus measures concluded on Monday, with few changes amid differences over policies regarding schools and personal contacts.
Germany is two weeks into a partial shutdown until the end of November, which has included the closures of restaurants, bars, museums and other leisure facilities, while retail and schools remain open.
Amid persistently high daily virus case numbers, the states and the federal government issued an appeal for people to meet with one other household at most, rather than a binding instruction restricting personal contacts. Private parties ought to be avoided, they added.
It was also announced that people deemed more vulnerable to the coronavirus would receive special FFP-2 masks at a lower price, subsidized by the government.
Further decisions on restrictions, possibly including tougher rules at schools, would be taken in the middle of next week. The federal government originally had aimed to impose masks on school pupils during class and further restrict personal contacts.
Speaking after the videoconference talks, Merkel said most states did not want any “interim legal changes” before the end of November, though she was of a different opinion.
Bavaria’s Premier Markus Soeder was also circumspect, saying: “I have little faith that everything is going to be OK at the end of November.
“Of course there were different opinions there today. And that could have been dealt with a bit more elegantly in the run-up to the conference.”
Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher said the renewed measures, which followed a full lockdown in March and April, have been successful, but it was too early to talk about what the situation will be after the end of November and into the festive season.
“We have, however, agreed to develop a plan as soon as possible, and then we can also say how Christmas and New Year’s Eve will pan out,” he told reporters.
Germany confirmed 10,824 additional coronavirus cases within the previous 24 hours. Last Monday, that figure stood at 13,363.
Figures are usually lower on Mondays as fewer tests are carried out at the weekend. A peak was reached on Friday with 23,542 new reported cases.
Hours before the meeting, Merkel told the party leadership of her Christian Democrats that the change in case numbers was not enough to justify leaving the rules as they are. “The numbers are stabilizing somewhat. But too slowly,” sources quoted the chancellor as saying.
Echoing this sentiment, Health Minister Jens Spahn said that while new daily case numbers were no longer increasing as fast as before the shutdown, that was not sufficient to justify inaction.
The existing measures have sparked a series of protests, some of which have turned violent as police sought to prevent demonstrations where masks were not being worn and distancing not observed.
As thousands took to the streets in several German cities over the weekend to rally against the restrictions, Merkel warned the pandemic would continue to dominate people’s lives for a long time, even as vaccines near the market.
“The coming winter will make heavy demands of us all,” Merkel said in her weekly Saturday podcast.
GNA