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Only two weeks ago some of the corona restrictions were relaxed in Germany - now people have to adjust to stricter rules again.

In view of the increasing number of cases and the sluggish progress of the vaccination campaign, politicians and doctors' representatives called on the federal and state leaders on Saturday to pull the emergency brake during their deliberations on Monday and to reverse the recent easing.

The seven-day incidence value has now almost reached the threshold of 100 - and the trend is rising.

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” on Saturday: “Further openings make no sense in view of the renewed increase in infections.

The emergency brake must apply to everyone, and consistently. "

Saarland's Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) told the RND newspapers with a view to the Prime Minister's Conference on Monday: "It is already clear that the current restrictions must remain in principle." He also called for the emergency brake.

"Third wave has started"

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Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) ruled out further easing.

"The third wave has begun, there is no need to talk about it," Kretschmer told WELT.

"We have to break the wave that is building up."

The Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) wants to take a different path: despite the increasing number of infections across Germany, she would like to facilitate certain easing in her country.

From Monday the outdoor catering will be opened with a "safety mechanism", explained Dreyer.

With a seven-day incidence over 100, the "emergency brake" is pulled. 

SPD leader Saskia Esken got the citizens in the mood for Easter in lockdown.

It is "highly responsible if now in federal states with high and rapidly increasing incidences, easing is questioned and even withdrawn," she told the Funke newspapers.

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The emergency brake mechanism is based on a specific decision by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the regional leaders on March 3: If the seven-day incidence rises to over 100 on three consecutive days in a federal state or region, the brake is pulled.

Relaxation must then be reversed and contacts restricted again.

What happens if the incidence is over 100?

In many regions the emergency brake would have to be pulled long ago because the incidence has risen to over 100.

Nationwide, the seven-day incidence rose to 99.9 from Saturday, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

Merkel had already called on Friday evening to "make use" of the emergency brake.

Medical representatives also joined the demands for stricter corona requirements.

They criticized the slow course of the vaccination campaign.

The head of the medical organization Marburger Bund, Susanne Johna, told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”: “The agreed emergency brake must definitely be pulled, there must be no exceptions.” She warned of a dramatic escalation of the corona situation.

“I expect an even more critical situation from Easter than at the turn of the year.” The capacities in the intensive care units would then “melt away rapidly”.

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The federal chairman of the German Association of General Practitioners, Ulrich Weigeldt, criticized the federal and state government's decision to initially only supply medical practices with a few doses of vaccine from the beginning of April.

"The practices must not become the rest ramp if there is anything left at the vaccination centers," he told the "image".

The head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen, is also critical of the decisions taken at the vaccination summit.

“The decision does not change anything in the basic situation.

We continue to vaccinate in slow motion, ”Gassen told the business magazine“ Business Insider ”.

Employer President Rainer Dulger, on the other hand, demanded a change of strategy in the corona policy from the federal government.

“The stubborn fixation on incidences is wrong,” Dulger told WELT.

A stronger opening of economic life is urgently needed, "because we are now at a turning point where many companies are running out of breath".

The key is vaccination and testing.