Dispute over easing: where is the opening timetable?

The list is long and getting longer: Denmark, Norway, France, Sweden, Spain, Great Britain, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands - one European country after another is relaxing its corona measures or lifting them almost entirely.

When going out or shopping in Zurich or Copenhagen, the mask requirement is a thing of the past, and nobody there asks for the vaccination certificate anymore.

It is being relaxed, although the number of infections there is sometimes even more than in Germany, piling up to form a gigantic wall.

However, the contagious omicron virus mutant has a significantly milder course of the disease than the more dangerous delta variant it has displaced.

And despite the sheer mass of infections of several hundred thousand a day, the number of Covid patients in intensive care units is only increasing moderately or is even decreasing.

In many countries, the high vaccination rate, especially in the particularly vulnerable group of older people, means less severe disease progression and less fatalities.

Almost like a former Basta chancellor

These are good reasons for the governments in Paris or The Hague to initiate a return to everyday life almost like before the pandemic.

The World Health Organization also gives hope that the end of the pandemic in Europe is near.

While half of Europe is freeing itself from the grip of the virus, a strange debate is taking place in this country about whether opening and easing should be talked about at all.

It sounds like a ban on discussion when Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Kretschmann demands that an end to the restrictions should not be discussed before Easter.

This would be "inappropriate and sends the wrong signal".

Olaf Scholz sounds almost like a former Basta chancellor: "The situation is not there." His pandemic minister Lauterbach warns against "loosening too early".

That would be "crazy".

And the new Green party leader, Ricarda Lang, criticizes the "outbidding competition for the relaxation of demands" and means the FDP.

Indeed, the Liberals are opposed to the line of their traffic light partners.

Party leader Lindner and Minister of Justice Buschmann rightly point out that an opening timetable does not have to be considered and discussed until the predicted peak of the Omicron wave in mid-February, when the prime ministers meet again with Scholz and Lauterbach.

Early action is also important because the restriction of fundamental rights and freedoms is limited to March 19 and can only be justified by the impending overload of the health system.

Not only do the traffic light partners disagree on the subject of easing, there is also a gap between the countries.

Bavaria's Prime Minister Söder sees the Omikron wall as "windows and doors" for the way back to freedom and is already loosening it up, while his counterpart in Lower Saxony, Weil, continues to advise caution.

Opinions about the right time also differ among virologists.

The mandatory vaccination debate increases the irritated mood

The most recent Allensbach survey for the FAZ showed the extent of the loss of trust among the population due to the corona communication, which was perceived as confusing even before the opening debate. A majority feels trapped in an “endless loop” after two years of the pandemic.

The hopes of an end to the corona measures nurtured by politics and science have too often been disappointed.

The debate about the introduction of a general obligation to vaccinate also follows this pattern, which intensifies the already irritable mood.

Only the sudden turnaround in politics at the end of November towards the rapid introduction of compulsory vaccination seemed to signal decisive action by the new government.

But instead of combining political leadership in this fundamental issue with its own draft law, the coalition, which is also divided on this point, took refuge for tactical reasons in a debate of conscience in the Bundestag without a fixed decision date.

The Union offers no better picture as the strongest opposition force.

While Friedrich Merz is leaning towards a step-by-step plan for mandatory vaccinations for older people, Hesse's Prime Minister Bouffier is calling for general vaccinations to be mandatory from March.

It's no wonder that most MPs don't have a clear position, not only because of unresolved constitutional and scientific issues.

Either way, the debate must now be held about the risks for the individual and the burden on the health system that society is willing to live with.

The answer also depends on which new virus variants emerge.

Corona has always been good for a nasty surprise.

The best preparation for this remains a higher vaccination rate.