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Berlin (dpa) - In the corona pandemic, people are facing stricter restrictions.

The aim is to reduce the number of infections with the virus.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the heads of government of the federal states agreed on Tuesday to extend the lockdown rules originally agreed on January 10th until the end of the month.

In addition, in the future, meetings should only be possible with one person who does not belong to your own household.

For districts in which more than 200 people per 100,000 inhabitants were newly infected within seven days, the federal states should limit the movement radius of citizens to 15 kilometers around their place of residence.

LIMITATION OF THE RANGE OF MOVEMENT IN HOTSPOTS

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Shortly after the resolutions, however, it became apparent that some federal states were likely to deviate from this.

Lower Saxony does not want to simply implement the restriction of freedom of movement in hotspots.

A separate justification for proportionality is necessary, as the Higher Administrative Court has already warned about other restrictions, said Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD).

"For us, this is part of the test program to determine whether and when the regulation is applied, preferably not at all."

In Germany, there is already a limited range of motion in Saxony, where the number of new infections has risen sharply in the past three months.

Here, citizens are allowed a maximum of 15 kilometers from their place of residence, for example to do sports or to go shopping.

Just like Saxony, Thuringia is also affected by the pandemic.

But there is initially no obligation for citizens to restrict their radius of movement to 15 kilometers around their place of residence, only a corresponding recommendation.

The German Association of Towns and Municipalities doubts the feasibility of the restricted range of motion.

"It is clear that additional measures must be taken in areas with very high incidences," said chief executive Gerd Landsberg of the "Rheinische Post" (Wednesday).

However, such a restricted range of motion is hardly controllable and it is questionable whether it will ultimately have an effect due to the many exceptions, said Landsberg.

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The federal chairman of the German police union, Rainer Wendt, told the German press agency: "The police can only control specific areas, not area-wide."

The density of the corona controls can no longer be increased - especially since the police are already focusing on this.

"With the increase in regulations, the density of controls decreases because the police cannot be increased at will."

It is illusory to believe that the police can cordon off individual cities or districts for a long time.

DIFFERENCES IN DEALING WITH SCHOOLS

There is also no uniform picture of the federal states when dealing with schools: Baden-Württemberg's head of government Winfried Kretschmann may want to reopen primary schools and daycare centers in the state from January 18.

According to the agreement between the federal and state governments, there will be no face-to-face lessons for students in secondary schools until the end of January.

The state government in Schleswig-Holstein wants to extend the lockdown at schools and daycare centers until the end of January.

"That means: face-to-face lessons will not be able to take place in schools until the end of January," said Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU).

In the north, there will initially only be opportunities for classes in schools for final classes.

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Thuringia and Saxony will bring the winter holidays forward because of the corona pandemic - and in Saxony they will be shortened to one week.

This was announced by Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) and the Saxon minister of education Christian Piwarz (CDU).

PRAISE FROM MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVES

The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, described the restriction of the range of motion in places with many new corona infections as a "sensible precautionary measure".

"We have to reduce the infection dynamics to protect our health system from overload," said Reinhardt of the German Press Agency in Berlin.

The supply in the German clinics and practices must be fully maintained.

This is not only essential for the many people seriously ill with Covid-19 - "but also for all other patients in Germany who need treatment," Reinhardt clarified.

The Marburger Bund doctors' union also welcomed the stricter Corona resolutions: “It is right to continue to apply the brakes.

The federal-state decision is therefore only consistent, "said the chairwoman, Susanne Johna, of the" Rheinische Post "(Wednesday).

The hospital staff has been under constant stress for weeks.

The President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (Divi), Gernot Marx, told the editorial network Germany about the decisions: “I am very happy about this decision.

The clinics are really full and so are the intensive care units. "

More than 22,000 intensive care beds are currently occupied in the clinics, more than 80 percent of the capacity.

REVIEW OF VACCINATION STRATEGY

Meanwhile, the federal government wants to try to ramp up production of corona vaccines.

Chancellor Merkel will consult with the responsible ministers on Wednesday.

After a heated public debate about the vaccination start, the coalition partner SPD health minister Jens Spahn (CDU) attacked.

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The vice-parliamentary group of the Liberals in the Bundestag, Michael Theurer, brought a committee of inquiry into play.

“An adequate supply of vaccines saves lives.

Every day that continues to be vaccinated so slowly puts human lives at risk, ”he said.

The questions would have to be answered in the Bundestag, “if necessary in the form of a parliamentary committee of inquiry”.

Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch told the t-online news portal that the left would request a special session of the Bundestag.

He spoke of a “debacle” with the vaccinations and criticized in particular that the Bundestag had not been included in the latest resolutions on the corona pandemic.

"This is an undemocratic maneuver by the Chancellor."

After the Biontech serum, the second vaccine is about to be used in the EU.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to recommend approval of the Covid vaccine from the US manufacturer Moderna this Wednesday.

Then the EU Commission still has to agree;

this is considered a formality.

DEBATE ABOUT THE TARGET BRAND

Berlin's governing mayor Michael Müller (SPD) said in the ZDF “heute journal” that the mark of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week was the minimum that had to be achieved.

The good thing is that this can now be achieved in two ways, with the measures adopted and through active vaccination.

"Of course, that gives us more security for spring as well."

The virologist Klaus Stöhr described the incidence target of 50 as “illusory”.

The goal is set low, said Stöhr in the ARD “Tagesthemen”.

A look at neighboring countries shows that a lot has been achieved with hard lockdowns, but has hardly come below an incidence of 100.

The fact is that the infection process in Germany in the past few weeks has not led to the health system being paralyzed or completely overloaded - despite the great stress in some hospitals.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210106-99-912550 / 2