The outgoing Health Minister Jens Spahn (Jens Spahn) for Germany’s fourth wave of pandemics may reach a “sad peak” in intensive care units across the country around Christmas. Decide People who have not been vaccinated are prohibited from entering many areas of public life.
On Thursday, the German government and the Federal Head of State agree Only those who have been vaccinated or who have recently recovered from Covid are allowed to enter restaurants, movie theaters, leisure facilities and many shops, and they proposed to introduce general vaccination regulations starting in February.
The capital Berlin announced on Friday that starting next Wednesday, it will ban unvaccinated people from entering the Christmas market and generally limit the number of public gatherings. Berlin nightclubs can continue to operate, but tourists are not allowed to dance.
German states with high infection rates such as Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony will resume holding football matches behind closed doors from Saturday.
“We should show this consistency in the treatment of unvaccinated people at an earlier stage,” said Spann, who will hand over work to the new government’s successor next Wednesday.
Spann said that in the coming weeks and months, the number of Covid patients in the intensive care unit will “significantly increase” to more than 5,000. On Friday morning, there were 4793 patients in the intensive care beds of the surrounding hospitals. Germany, About half of them were intubated.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), a German disease control agency, reported that the national incidence rate was 442.1 per 100,000 citizens in 7 days, and 390 patients died of the disease in the past 24 hours.
“Minimize your contact as much as possible,” Spann urged. “Do your part to help reduce further pain.”
The incidence in Germany has stagnated in the past week and has declined slightly in the past three days, despite warnings from politicians and scientists not to have too much hope for these numbers.
Lothar Willer, director of the Robert Koch Institute, said on Friday that he believes the restrictions have already had an impact in some parts of Germany. However, other states such as Saxony or Thuringia are flooded with new cases, so that when the capacity of the laboratory reaches its limit, it is difficult for health authorities to report these cases accurately.
Germany’s incoming “traffic light” coalition government stated that it hopes that members of parliament will be able to Follow in the footsteps of Austria The vaccination will be mandatory starting next year.
Key figures from the three coalition parties, including Chancellor-designate Olaf Schultz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner, have expressed their support for this initiative in recent days.
Spann said on Friday that he would vote against a general mandate, calling his position “very skeptical in principle.” In the past, the conservative politician has promised not to make vaccination mandatory, and said that “this will determine my voting behavior.”
At the same press conference, Weiler refused to show his support for general authorization. “I believe this country must have more debate,” he said. “My wish is to have an informed debate and then make an informed decision.”
Wieler said that unless the country is sufficiently immune to Covid-19, “we will work hard to bring the pandemic to a halt”.
