Corona in Germany: "We are currently seeing very, very many infections among six to 20-year-olds"

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Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) has campaigned for fewer contacts as a prerequisite for saving human lives in the third corona wave. 5,000 people are currently in intensive care units with Covid-19 - "The trend continues to rise, with the age of the patients falling," said Spahn on Wednesday in the final consultation on the law for a federal emergency brake in the Bundestag. Every third Covid 19 patient dies in the clinics - not only in the intensive care units. In the dramatic situation in the clinics, patients would have to be relocated and non-Covid treatments postponed.

The number of intensive care patients follows the number of new infections, stressed Spahn.

The connection is clear.

"Two thirds of all outbreaks are currently taking place in Germany in the private sector," he explained.

“We are currently seeing very, very many infections among 6- to 20-year-olds.” Spahn therefore called for approval of the draft law, which is intended to reduce contact: “The situation is serious, very serious.” He said: “If we can avoid suffering, we should avoid it. "

The number of those vaccinated is growing rapidly.

"At the beginning of May it will be one in four, in a few weeks every third one," said Spahn.

But: "Vaccination and testing alone is not enough to break the third wave."

Brinkhaus: "This law is a law for life"

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Previously, in the final deliberations on the law, Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus had urged approval.

"This law is a law for life," said Brinkhaus on Wednesday in plenary.

“Vote for life.

Protect lives, agree, ”Brinkhaus shouted to the MPs.

Brinkhaus quoted the Basic Law: "Everyone has the right to life and physical integrity." He said: "It is our task to protect this life." That is his claim to politics.

The law is intended to end the steady increase in the number of infections and the number of Covid 19 sufferers.

Among other things, night exit restrictions and the stop of face-to-face classes in regions with many new infections should serve this.

Brinkhaus admitted that the restrictions make it difficult for many retailers.

But if the crisis puts him to sleep, he thinks less of those affected.

“I think of the people who have gotten sick, and I think of the people who are dying.” He said: “Now is the time for the German Bundestag to decide.” He would have preferred a tougher and stricter law, but now it is important to also adopt the compromise.

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The corona vaccination campaign will develop enormous momentum by the summer.

“But that won't be enough in the next few weeks.” Tests alone weren't enough either.

A look at other countries shows: "In the beginning there was always the lockdown, and then testing and regional work."

AfD: "This law breaks a taboo"

AfD parliamentary group leader Alexander Gauland sharply denounced the planned emergency brake as a disregard for fundamental rights.

During the debate on the law in the Bundestag on Wednesday, he spoke of an “attack on civil liberties, federalism and common sense”.

The government has failed to get vaccines and is now trying to use moral pressure to get the opposition to agree, Gauland said.

Critics are not taken seriously.

"You cannot turn half the people into troublemakers," he said, referring to people who wanted to demonstrate against the Corona policy in Berlin on Wednesday.

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Gauland warned that the government could see the regulations as a blueprint for other problems and crises.

“I only have to warn that an experiment is being tried out here that some hope could be repeated on other occasions.” He cited climate protection as an example.

However, the fundamental rights are not subject to reservation.

"That's why this law is a taboo," said Gauland.

Apparently addressed to the CDU / CSU and SPD coalition factions, he added: "Even if you tried to grind off your fangs a little at the end and not leave the Bundestag out completely."

FDP threatens constitutional complaint

In the debate, the FDP reiterated its announcement that it would lodge a constitutional complaint against the planned exit restrictions.

"The planned curfews are not suitable measures," said the health policy spokeswoman for the group, Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus.

"They only restrict basic rights in an inadmissible manner and drive people into the private sphere."

The alternatives to the planned federal emergency brake are increased vaccination and testing as well as better education about avoiding contact.

The FDP wants to reject the bill and submitted several amendments.

If the contact restrictions planned by the coalition remain, the FDP will lodge a constitutional complaint against it.

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The "emergency brake" is intended to establish binding nationwide rules for stricter corona countermeasures - with specific guidelines for high numbers of infections. These include extensive exit restrictions from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., school closings and stricter regulations for businesses. The emergency brake should be pulled if the number of reported new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in a district or a city is over 100 within seven days for three days in a row. A higher threshold of 165 should apply for switching to distance learning in schools. The changes to the Infection Protection Act should go to the Federal Council this Thursday and come into force quickly - initially by the end of June.