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Munich (dpa / lby) - Bavaria's local politicians are behind the cautious corona strategy of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU).

After a video link with 96 district administrators and mayors from the Free State on Friday, Söder said there was “not a single request to speak” that “fundamentally called into question what we are doing.

I think that is also very important because it is about trust in the population. "

In essence, everyone agreed that the successes achieved in the fight against the pandemic should not be jeopardized for a “quick applause” in the event of hasty easing, said Söder.

Also the incidence values ​​35 and 50, which are relevant for all decisions, were not criticized by anyone in the group.

"We must not risk a third lockdown by opening too quickly," emphasized the president of the district assembly, Christian Bernreiter (CSU).

Merkel had defended her course in the more than two-hour switch when the corona requirements were relaxed.

Only with low incidences are more openings to be represented, she said after dpa information from participants.

In the event of relaxation, school continues to have priority for them.

Then further openings in the areas of retail, events, culture and sport could be cleverly combined.

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On the part of the district administrators and mayors, hopes and concrete expectations for further easing had already been expressed before the switch.

According to reports, however, the local politicians held back with too much criticism.

However, they did emphasize their anger at the slow-moving financial aid from the federal government and the difficulty in planning the supply of vaccines.

With a view to the vaccinations, both local politicians and Söder demanded a clear system from the federal government so that family and company doctors could also be involved in the process.

For Bavaria, Söder announced that he would like to expand the vaccination centers.

Concrete requests for opening dates were reportedly not an issue in the group.

The President of the City Council, Markus Pannermayr (CSU), said afterwards that the participants had formulated the clear request that the federal and state governments should jointly draft “a credible sketch” of how this path towards summer could be designed responsibly.

"As difficult as it is."

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In addition, the local politicians expressed their wish for federal compensation for lost business tax income.

Merkel had not made any commitments, said Söder.

But he emphasized that he wanted to discuss the issue again in the grand coalition.

Aid is important so that the municipalities can continue to finance their duties.

After the conference, Söder emphasized that despite the currently unclear prospects due to particularly aggressive virus mutations, he still sees opportunities for an Easter holiday this year: “Easter is still completely open.

The Easter holiday will be decided in the next three weeks. "

However, he emphasized that hasty openings endanger the holiday.

This could be better assessed at the federal and state conference on March 3rd.

"We need an intelligent opening matrix, not a rigid step-by-step plan, but an opening matrix that offers a wide range of tools to react accordingly."

This explicitly includes the option of being able to react quickly even in the event of deterioration.

To this end, it is also important to agree on a joint corona management in a working group with the neighboring federal states.

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This also includes the possibility of regional differentiations if the respective infection numbers are clearly different.

How extreme the range of infections is can be seen very well in Bavaria: The city of Schweinfurt has the lowest incidence nationwide (7.49), Tirschenreuth (230) the highest.

Munich's Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) announced after the conference that he saw local opportunities for relaxation in the state capital with an incidence below 35, for example in schools and with contacts.

Smart control must therefore prevent shopping tourism where people from hotspots travel to other municipalities, said Söder.

In retail, for example, opening concepts with a few customers per square meter or appointments to customers are conceivable.

At the same time, in regions with particularly favorable numbers, further school openings such as face-to-face classes at primary schools and more social contacts would be possible.

Germany is currently in a "highly sensitive phase" of the pandemic, said Söder.

It is a “tightrope walk” between worries and wishes.

It is shown that the number of infections is currently only falling slightly, but at the same time the proportion of detected infections with virus mutations is rising steeply.

Politicians should therefore not give in to “any short-term moods”, but must continue to proceed carefully, stressed Söder.

Here, too, there was great agreement in the conference.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210219-99-513295 / 2