The Bundestag and Bundesrat passed the controversial reform of the Infection Protection Act on Friday, despite some significant reservations.

Against the background of new highs in infections - the Robert Koch Institute reported the highest corona incidence of all time at 1706 on Friday morning - most protective measures are to be eliminated.

Some measures should only continue to apply in so-called hotspots if the respective federal state decides to do so.

Kim Bjorn Becker

Editor in Politics.

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The Federal Council voted in favor of the reform on Friday afternoon.

Previously, however, there had been some sharp criticism of the draft law in the state chamber.

Hesse's Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) sharply criticized the actions of the traffic light coalition in Berlin.

"The procedure is unspeakable and simply undignified," said Bouffier.

He complained that Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) publicly feared the worst and at the same time presented an easing law.

"It undermines acceptance." The federal government does not want to take more responsibility for Corona "for anything".

The new hotspot regulation also met with clear criticism.

"It's a legal mess," said Bouffier.

Among other things, there are no clear criteria for defining a hotspot.

The Prime Minister of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow (Die Linke), called wearing masks and keeping your distance “basics” that absolutely had to endure.

Ramelow reproached the federal government for giving the federal states far too little time to examine the draft law.

"I had from 8:22 a.m. to 10 a.m. to question my officers," Ramelow said.

“This is not participation.” The federal government “put the chair in front of the door” of the federal states in Corona policy.

Fighting off the pandemic is no longer a joint task of the federal and state governments.

"Much remains unclear and undetermined," criticized Stefanie Drese (SPD), Minister of Social Affairs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

In addition, the hotspot regulation is impractical because the state parliament always has to agree.

In order to be able to react effectively to the virus, you practically need a “standing state parliament,” said Drese.

The burden on the hospitals in the federal state is higher than ever before.

It is unclear whether an entire country can be defined as a hotspot.

The Bavarian cabinet member Florian Herrmann (CSU) recalled Lauterbach's first appearance before the state chamber after he became federal health minister.

Lauterbach described the federal and state governments as a "team" in mid-January and emphasized the importance of cooperation.

According to Herrmann, there is no longer any sign of this.

"It's really a shame that we didn't notice anything more about it," he said.

Herrmann appealed to the federal government to follow up with a new law.

The federal government must “explore again” how the purpose of the Infection Protection Act can be better implemented.