In Berlin, the signs point to relaxation.

The Senate decided on Tuesday that further corona measures should be weakened.

In restaurants, for example, the old 2G rules are being replaced by the 3G concept.

This gives unvaccinated people with a current test access again.

"We see that the situation is clearly easing," said Berlin's Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD).

Kim Bjorn Becker

Editor in Politics.

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Berlin is one of several countries that have already decided on the second stage of easing.

The federal and state governments had agreed on a corresponding concept on February 16.

It provides that the federal states can expand access to gastronomy on March 4th, and clubs can also open for vaccinated and recovered people with a current test.

Major events should also be possible again with more spectators.

But there was always one restriction: the federal and state governments agreed that any easing at the beginning of March would only be possible if this was possible after “taking into account the situation in the hospitals”.

What that means exactly was formulated by the Federal Government’s Corona Expert Council in its statement of February 13.

There it says: “Reducing state infection control measures seems sensible as soon as there is a stable drop in hospitalization and intensive care admissions and occupancy.” The federal and state governments referred to the committee several times in their decision, leaving it with the criteria for the upcoming ones Relaxation, however, with a general formulation.

In the capital, the so-called hospitalization incidence fell in the past two weeks from 26.1 to 14.1 patients per 100,000 inhabitants within one week.

And the number of Covid 19 intensive care patients fell steadily from 191 to 146 most recently.

The fact that Berlin is reducing the measures is logical - also and especially in the spirit of the Corona Expert Council of the Federal Government.

Other countries, on the other hand, decided to leave the strict criteria of the experts aside and to relax even with numbers that were in some cases significantly worse.

Bavaria is loosening despite the increasing number of patients

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania voted for less strict corona measures, although the incidence of hospitalization there has risen steadily over the past two weeks, climbing from 9.4 to 11.2 over this period.

The number of intensive care patients did not fall stably in the same period, but remained quite constant.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, too, 3 G will apply in restaurants and hotels from Friday, mask requirements and hygiene concepts will be reduced.

"We have the situation in Rhineland-Palatinate under control," said Health Minister Clemens Hoch (SPD) on Wednesday in Mainz.

In two weeks, the hospitalization incidence in the country rose from 5.3 to 6.8, more than a quarter.

The number of intensive care patients also remained at a similar level there.

The easing is possible because the situation in the hospitals is “absolutely stable”.

About half of the infected hospital patients in the country are not in the clinic because of Corona.

And Bavaria is also relaxing, although the numbers in one area are pointing upwards: In Bavaria, it is not primarily the incidence of hospitalization that contradicts the recommendations of the experts, but the number of Covid 19 patients in the intensive care units.

It increased within two weeks from 371 to 407, i.e. by almost ten percent.

The countries justified their steps differently.

Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) spoke on Wednesday in Munich of a "persistently stable infection situation" and that the situation in the hospitals was "still manageable".

A spokeswoman for the Saxon Ministry of Health announced that they had consulted with "experts from the medical field" and that there was no foreseeable overload in the clinics.

Schleswig-Holstein is also relaxing under unclear signs, namely with a changing incidence of hospitalization and a sideways moving number of intensive care patients.

A spokesman for Health Minister Heiner Garg (FDP) said that the openings were responsible because "the health system is still not being overloaded".

The state government took the situation in the clinics into account and consulted with its own expert council.

Few registrations for Novavax vaccination appointments

In Saxony-Anhalt, where the numbers have also recently moved sideways, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health refers to an “assessment by the local pandemic team”, according to which the peak of contagion in the federal state has already been reached.

"Nevertheless, the stress in the hospitals in particular is still being closely monitored." In February, the federal and state governments relaxed the contact restrictions as a first step.

By March 20th, "all more extensive protective measures should then be dropped if the situation in the hospitals allows it," according to the decision.

Meanwhile, public interest in the Novavax vaccine has fallen short of expectations.

"So far, there have only been isolated inquiries from patients about the Novavax vaccine in the practices," said the chairman of the General Practitioners' Association, Ulrich Weigeldt, the editorial network Germany.

"As things currently stand, it is at least questionable whether the new vaccine will lead to a significant increase in vaccination rates."

In Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, citizens have so far made 1,600 vaccination appointments with Novavax.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, 75.5 percent of citizens nationwide were immunized against corona on Wednesday, and 57.1 percent had received a third vaccination.

From mid-March, vaccinations will be compulsory for healthcare workers.