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WORLD:
Mr. Blume, do you know what happens to fitness studios in the fourth opening step in the relaxation plan, for example, when the incidence is 98 - and from when does that apply?
Markus Blume:
The question already shows: We are typically German on the road.
With great attention to detail, but on the verge of incomprehensibility.
It is good that we have a roadmap for the next few weeks.
But more importantly, we should return to normal with testing and vaccination.
Source: WORLD infographic
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WORLD:
That was a criticism of the decisions of the Prime Minister's Conference ...
Flower:
No.
We are entering the most difficult phase of the pandemic.
The danger is not over, the third wave is already here in some regions.
On the other hand, the unreasonable demands in families or in trade are difficult to shoulder.
What the prime ministers passed is a balancing act.
We must do everything we can to ensure that we as a country do not fall apart at this stage.
WORLD:
Citizens' displeasure could still grow.
You will soon receive a free test per week.
Is that enough?
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Blume:
One test is not enough.
We have two tickets to normalcy: vaccination and testing.
We can no longer accelerate the vaccination retrospectively.
Here the mistakes are in the past.
Tests are the bridge to the vaccination offer for everyone.
But unfortunately we see here again: too late, too slowly, too little was ordered.
It has to be said clearly that mistakes have probably been made in the Federal Ministry of Health.
Now finally it has to be delivered.
WELT:
One hears that there are not enough tests yet because the federal government wants to lower the price.
Are we skimpy in the wrong place, as with vaccination?
Blume:
Corona punishes waiting.
As with vaccination, time is crucial, not price.
Those who act quickly and with commitment are ahead.
Bavaria already offered a free test for everyone last year.
At that time, Markus Söder was criticized for it.
Now everyone wants that.
With Corona you have to lead the way, act and not just keep making promises that are then not kept.
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WORLD:
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) wanted to go ahead and promised tests for everyone from March 1st.
Blume: In the
case of Corona, it is extremely dangerous to believe that the virus could be defeated with Potemkin villages.
The decisive factor is the deed and not the word.
In a Europe-wide comparison, Germany was very successful in combating corona in 2020.
We have to build on that again.
On the way out of the Corona crisis, everyone must now concentrate on their core tasks.
WORLD:
Does it prevent us in Germany from working on a solution until it seems perfect?
Blume:
Last year it was a virtue that we focused 100 percent on pushing back Corona.
Now, however, 100 percent solutions are more of an obstacle because we see that the warning app with all its limitations does not work, the approval of vaccines is too complicated, it takes too long to obtain tests.
A very important lesson from Corona: We have to break up these incrustations.
They paralyze us.
WORLD:
So far, it has not been regulated how the self-tests, which will soon be available for purchase, will be integrated into the strategy.
What are you pleading for?
Blume:
I advocate that we get a digital solution for this as quickly as possible.
It is significant that the warning app no longer plays a role.
We need a solution that works, not one that has the government's blessing but is unsuitable.
You also have to find non-bureaucratic ways.
The private self-tests are an important addition to the path to normalcy.
WORLD:
The first federal states are already softening the resolutions from Wednesday.
Hessen opens the gym.
Is everything waste?
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Blume:
We are in a dynamic phase of Corona.
The growth in new infections is again slightly exponential.
On March 22nd, the developments and measures will have to be put to the test.
We cannot allow ourselves to run straight into the next wave and another lockdown.
It is therefore absolutely crucial that the regional emergency brakes work and are not undermined again by political unwillingness.
When we see that the third wave has already arrived, we need a special vaccination program.
In the border districts in particular, we have to build a protective wall for the rest of the country by immunizing there faster.
In a first step, Bavaria will make an additional 50,000 vaccine doses available at the Bavarian-Czech border.
WORLD:
Family doctors are not to be involved on a large scale until the end of March and the beginning of April.
Some pilot projects are now running.
Why should family doctors now demonstrate their ability to do something they do every day: vaccinate people?
Blume:
In fact, that is incomprehensible.
Family doctors have been vaccinating for decades.
They are specialists and know what they are doing.
We need to eliminate all vaccination bureaucracy.
WORLD:
For a long time it was argued behind closed doors that the doctors would not adhere to the vaccination prioritization.
Is prioritization the golden calf to be danced around?
Blume:
It is clear that at the beginning we had to vaccinate those who were threatened with the most serious disease courses or even death.
Those over 70 and 80, the chronically ill.
Then the following must apply: We vaccinate as much as we can, everywhere.
It is significant that we in Germany are concerned with the question of when doctors are allowed to vaccinate, while in other countries of the world injections are already being made next to the supermarket checkout.
After the vulnerable groups, the vaccination sequence can only be a recommendation for the doctors.
This is already evident in the last resolution of the prime ministers.
WORLD:
The vaccination sequence is the reason why companies that have offered the government to vaccinate their employees have not yet come into play.
What are we waiting for?
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Blume:
We were successful last year because politics went ahead and didn't get tangled up in the small things.
The principle of “whatever it takes” from 2020 must now also apply to vaccinations.
But I say just as clearly: We must not speak badly to one another collectively.
Many countries still look to Germany with great respect for good reasons.
WORLD:
Is Germany's reputation as a nation of efficient administration still suffering?
Union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU) even calls for a revolution in statehood.
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Blume:
In the middle of the greatest crisis, you don't convert a state.
But Corona has relentlessly exposed weaknesses.
We have to get better at digital education, digital citizen service, digital medicine.
In all honesty: When it comes to digitization, we are light years behind the best in the world.
We want the digital awakening to a modern state.
That will be an issue in the federal election campaign.
With its program, the SPD has made it clear that it does not want a modern, but more state.
That creates a monster that is even more immobile.
We need the opposite.
WORLD:
So does the Union's offer mean: less state?
Blume:
The Union promises the people a strong state that will protect them.
But on a small scale, we need freedom and personal responsibility.
Otherwise people will be crushed.
Politically, we have to press the reset button after the crisis so that we can start into the golden twenties with some delay.
WORLD:
Do you see someone in your party leader Markus Söder who would be ready to tackle such a Herculean task?
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Blume: Over
the past three years in Bavaria, he has shown that he thinks along these broad lines and that he has the ambition not only to administer a community, but to lead it into the future.
WORLD:
Now Söder and CDU boss Armin Laschet want to agree on a candidate for chancellor only before Pentecost.
Why are you delaying the decision so much?
Blume:
Coping with the corona has top priority.
Anyone who, like the SPD, switches to election campaign mode in the middle of the pandemic is setting the priorities wrong.
We will clarify the personnel issue in good time before the election.
WORLD:
But the harsh attacks by Söder on Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Wednesday were pure election campaign mode.
Blume:
In these rounds, Olaf Scholz has a talent for presenting himself as particularly clever.
That sometimes leads to things getting jammed.
A clear word will help.
WORLD:
"Smurfy grinning around" you use a clear word?
Blume:
Well, it worked anyway.
We do not need any smart-phone lectures from the sidelines, we need constructive government work.
I would like to remind you that Olaf Scholz sent a catalog of questions to his own government weeks ago.
He acts as if he no longer belongs to that government.
We would be in a better position if the SPD part did its homework, made sure that aid flowed for companies, that the hardship fund was implemented.
The SPD wants to get out of the government, you can feel that.
But that's irresponsible at the moment.
"Will it be necessary to accompany this with a supplementary budget"
Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) speaks in an interview with WELT about a possible supplementary budget after the resolutions of the federal-state summit.
He says it is “necessary that we also accompany this with a supplementary budget”.
Source: WORLD