The tightening of the corona regulations for gastronomy, agreed on Friday by the heads of government from the federal and state levels, will gradually come into force in Hesse.

The 2 G plus rule already applies to hotspots, said Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) after the digital conference.

In the district of Fulda, people who have been vaccinated twice and those who have recovered need a current negative test for restaurants and bars since last Sunday.

Starting today, Saturday, this entry requirement also applies in Frankfurt and Darmstadt.

Wiesbaden has announced that the stricter regulations will come into force on Sunday.

Ewald Hetrodt

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung in Wiesbaden.

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This results from the state ordinance, according to which municipalities are considered hotspots if the seven-day incidence exceeds 350 on three consecutive days. If this is not the case, a federal law is to take effect, but it must first be passed by the Bundestag and approved by the Bundesrat on Friday. On this basis, the Hessian cabinet will issue a corresponding ordinance, which will come into force in mid-January, said Bouffier. The Union politician was pleased that the measures decided so far had worked. The "explosion" feared for Christmas and New Year did not take place. The data in Hessen are slightly better than the national average.

Bouffier criticized the fact that the federal economic aid would be extended and in some cases increased.

But that's not enough.

For example, Messe Frankfurt, of which the state is a co-owner, needs more money from the federal budget in addition to Hessian support.

In addition, medium-sized companies needed equity aid.

"What the federal government and the states have decided is conclusive and sensible," said Günter Rudolph, the chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the state parliament.

"The division in society is being pushed forward with increasingly absurd measures," said AfD MP Volker Richter.

The President of the Hessian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kirsten Schoder-Steinmüller, predicted that the catering industry would "suffer severely" from the new regulation.

As early as December, the companies had recorded catastrophic sales losses.

The state bridging aid could only alleviate the greatest economic hardship, but not provide any real perspective.

In some municipalities such as Frankfurt, strict rules had already been set up in order to achieve hotspot status.

There the incidence on Friday was at its highest level in Hesse at 471.4.