The German chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz defended his plan to phase out the national emergency by the end of this month, even though the country recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
“The virus still exists and threatens the health of our citizens,” Schultz said in a parliamentary debate on Thursday. He urged members of Congress to support a series of new measures to curb the spread of Covid. “Therefore, it is very, very important to take all measures to ensure that we can protect their health.”
The Social Democratic Party, which is forming a ruling coalition with the German Green Party and the Liberal Democratic Party, specifically mentioned the restoration of free rapid testing for all people, mandatory testing of nursing staff, and more financial support for vaccination. In addition to maintaining mandatory wear In addition to the mask rules, it also manages the center for strengthening injections.
Scholz said that he welcomes some German federal states to follow Austria’s lead and introduce the so-called “2G” requirement, which means that only those who have been vaccinated or recently recovered from Covid can go to bars, clubs or restaurants, but avoid supporting nationwide support. Apply for such a rule.
Germany has reported Record the daily new infection rate with a 7-day average Since the start of this week, the country’s disease control agency announced on Friday that there were 50,196 new cases.
In terms of death toll, the country’s fourth wave is still Still below the previous peaks in April 2020, January 2021, and April 2021The Robert Koch Institute reported 235 new deaths on Thursday, up from 165 at the same time a week ago.
“Although the situation is different because so many people have been vaccinated, it is not good,” Scholz said on Thursday. “Especially because not enough citizens have been vaccinated so far.”
Germany has the third lowest vaccination rate in the west Europe, 66% of the country’s population is vaccinated, ahead of other German-speaking countries Austria and Switzerland.
The states with the highest number of unvaccinated people in eastern and southern Germany also reported the highest infection rates. Only 57.2% of the population in Saxony has been vaccinated. It is a hot spot in the country, with 522 infections per 100,000 people in the past 7 days.
Nevertheless, both the outgoing and incoming governments agree that November 25 should mark the end of the so-called “nationally significant epidemic situation”, which is a national pandemic between the government and the heads of the 16 German federal states. Reaching agreement on restrictions creates a legal framework. , Effectively bypassing parliament.