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You have to read them pretty carefully, the corona restrictions for the Christmas holidays that the Hamburg Senate had issued this week.
Its implementation is like a mathematical word problem, a wide variety of constellations are possible.
After the holidays, the lockdown regulations apply again, plus a fireworks ban on New Year's Eve: A lot of work, especially for the Hamburg police, who are supposed to monitor all these measures.
The officers will probably keep an eye on the public space.
Checking whether the general decree is being adhered to within the families will not be the primary goal at Christmas.
"We will not count who is sitting under the Christmas tree," said police spokesman Holger Vehren.
"We assume that the people of Hamburg will implement the requirements intelligently and sensibly."
This is also the case with Thomas Jungfer, head of the police union DPolG: “No homes are checked without suspicion.” But this should not be understood as a license.
The willingness to report illegal "corona parties" has increased significantly in recent months.
The police will respond immediately to such and other information.
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The police must consider the various options that are possible: Meetings with close family members are possible at Christmas, but only with four people from several households who go beyond their own household.
These must be family members and their household members.
Only children under the age of 14 are not counted.
Police spokesman Vehren says that those who do not adhere to these rules will be dealt with consistently, but with a sense of proportion.
In order to be able to estimate exactly what the police will face, one has to wait for the last weekend in Advent, "the first weekend in lockdown".
The experiences would flow into the holiday planning.
While the usual line-up of the police will show their presence on the street on the Christmas holidays, things will look very different at the turn of the year.
"New Year's Eve has always been one of the most labor-intensive jobs," said spokesman Vehren, and that will also be the case this year.
Every available patrol officer would then be on the street.
In particular, the hundreds of riot police traditionally play a major role.
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In principle, the general decree on New Year's Eve does not allow any exceptions such as at Christmas.
A maximum of five people from two households are allowed to meet.
The large housing estates such as Mümmelmannsberg or in Steilshoop will be a focus of the controls, WELT AM SONNTAG learned.
Experience from the past few years has shown that a particularly large number of people come together on the streets on New Year's Eve.
How much the police have to do on New Year's Eve will depend above all on whether the ban on the sale of fireworks has ensured that fewer fireworks are in circulation, said DPolG country chief Jungfer.
In addition to the sale, the lighting of fireworks is also prohibited this year.
However, it can be assumed that many people will circumvent the ban by ordering rockets and firecrackers on the Internet, where sales cannot be controlled.
Or, that is the other variant, have already stocked up on wholesalers in the past few weeks, where fireworks were offered long before the otherwise official sales days.
It is likely to be a Sisyphean job for the police to prosecute violations on New Year's Eve.
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In addition to the short-term relaxation of the family contact restrictions, there are other provisions that apply during the festive season: Hotels and guest houses in the city can only be booked at Christmas, i.e. from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.
Restaurants must remain closed, but may offer "meals to order as well as for pick-up with contactless delivery outside the business premises".
And, after a long discussion about it, the Senate also allows church services at Christmas, with a mask and in accordance with hygiene regulations.
Even though the retail trade has been closed, the Hamburg residents do not have to do without one of the most traditional Christmas customs this year: the sale of Christmas trees continues for once.
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We are happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: Welt am Sonntag