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Leipzig (dpa / sn) - The corona-related restrictions on trade that also apply to December are worrying the German Association of Cities.

"We are very worried that the retail trade will be permanently damaged and that after Corona we will be in a situation where we may no longer recognize our inner cities in some places in our country," said City Council President Burkhard Jung on Thursday in Leipzig.

At the same time, the Association of Cities sees the municipalities' primary goal of keeping schools and daycare centers open "if it is somehow responsible."

In this context, Jung, who is also the mayor of Leipzig, advocates compulsory masking for all pupils from the age of 13.

The SPD politician criticized the many different regulations in the federal states.

"I think that when it comes to school, people shirk and fool around."

There needs to be clear rules on clear threshold values ​​that should apply to all federal states.

According to the Association of Cities, it is currently crucial to reduce public contact in the fight against the pandemic.

This is mainly done at the expense of the closed gastronomy, cultural institutions and sports clubs, explained Jung.

It is therefore right and important that those affected are adequately compensated.

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In general, the Association of Cities considers the continuation of the partial lockdown to contain the corona pandemic to be right.

"There is no alternative.

The infection curve is subdued, but it is still a very, very serious situation, ”explained Jung.

However, he also stressed that the municipalities needed a strategy for the coming months.

"We would like to see such a perspective for the next meeting between the Chancellor and the Prime Minister."

In addition, the President of the City Council called for a political debate on the appropriate relationship between the right of assembly and health protection.

He considers a step-by-step plan to be useful, in which the level of infection regulates the size of the gathering and also the locations of the rallies.

Mass demonstrations in the inner cities with such restrictive measures did not go together.

He described the gatherings of thousands of people as "unrestrained exploitation of the right to demonstrate".

Those would be "ridiculed who try hard to protect the weakest in solidarity."