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Berlin (dpa) - The federal government has defended the federal-state resolution to extend the lockdown at schools and daycare centers until the end of the month.
The closure of schools and daycare centers is a major challenge for families, said the deputy government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer in Berlin.
"Due to the high number of infections, however, there was no other solution than to remove compulsory attendance for the schools for the near future."
The tough decision was "absolutely necessary".
In the federal states that are responsible for schools and daycare centers, planning for the implementation of the resolutions is under way.
These leave room for maneuver, and the different countries proceed accordingly.
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For example, Baden-Württemberg wants to reopen primary schools and daycare centers from January 18, if the number of infections allows.
In Lower Saxony, too, elementary school students are to come back to school alternately from January 18.
Daycare centers in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, are generally open, parents are only asked not to bring their children.
And there are childcare options for younger students whose parents cannot stay at home.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the prime ministers of the federal states agreed on Tuesday to update the corona rules in schools and daycare centers that have been in effect in the federal states since mid-December until the end of January - i.e., if possible, no classroom teaching and daycare care only if necessary.
Exceptions are possible for graduating classes.
In the current situation, everything must be done to reduce contact options, and chains of infection must be traceable again, said Demmer.
Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU) also described the measures as necessary.
Schools may not be the drivers of the pandemic, but they are part of the infection process, she said on Wednesday.
On January 25, the federal and state governments want to discuss how things will proceed in February for parents and children, teachers and daycare workers.
Family Minister Franziska Giffey spoke on Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday of a "clear restriction" of the measures to January: "I think it has to stay that way, because such burdens for children and families must not be made over an even longer period of time."
Demmer said everyone agrees that the goal remains to be the first to reopen schools and daycare centers after the lockdown has ended.
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Some federal states are now postponing the next vacation dates in order to adapt school planning to the lockdown.
In Bavaria, for example, the carnival holidays in mid-February are to be canceled to make up for failures from the January lockdown.
Thuringia moves its winter holidays from February to the last week of January so that they fall during the extended lockdown period.
In Saxony, one of the normally two holiday weeks is brought forward to the first week of February.
The second holiday week should then be made up for in the Holy Week before Easter.
Because millions of parents are now having a care problem again, the number of childhood illness days per parent is to be doubled from 10 to 20, and for single parents from 20 to 40. The federal and state governments also agreed on Tuesday.
The SPD called on Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) on Wednesday to quickly submit a corresponding law.
According to Giffey, parents should also be able to take these days whose daycare is generally open, but who voluntarily comply with the request not to bring their children to the care facility.
The head of the German Federation of Trade Unions, Reiner Hoffmann, welcomed the plans.
With this proposal, the federal government shows that home office and childcare cannot be provided at the same time.
It is important that the health insurance companies are not left with the costs.
The federal government must reimburse 100 percent for this.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210106-99-919673 / 2