In most of the Federal Republic of Germany, the ’emergency brake’ rules are now in place. They apply in cities and counties with high Seven Day Incidences.
Berlin, April 24th, 2021 (The Berlin Spectator) — In all of Germany’s large cities and most counties, the new ’emergency brake’ law applies now. This means that most Germans and residents of other nationalities may not leave their homes at night. (See list of all new rules here). The strict rules apply until the Incidence in a county drops below 100 and stays there for five consecutive days.
More Rights for Vaccinated Persons
There is a lot of criticism. Fifty famous actors launched a video campaign against the new rules. While three of them retracted their statements, the rest were slammed by other actors and politicians who stand behind the government’s attempts to get the Coronavirus infections down. ‘Bild’, Germany’s largest news publication, continued its campaign against the measures, by referring to them as “the lockup law”. Curfews had already been part of the Infection Protection Act before the recent changes. Some federal states had put them in place long before the amended version of the law kicked in last night.
Now, the federal government is working on giving vaccinated persons more rights. Angela Merkel and the First Ministers from Germany’s sixteen federal states would discuss the subject at their next Corona conference on Monday, ‘Bild’, the same tabloid, reports. The publication writes, a draft resolution for the meeting included a finding by the Robert Koch Institute according to which vaccinated individuals are less likely to infect others with the Coronavirus than people with negative Corona tests. The government seems to want to take this finding into account.
23,000+ New Corona Infections
At this stage, it is unclear exactly which rights vaccinated individuals might have in the foreseeable future. They could get the permission to enter shops without Corona tests and to enter the country without quarantine. Also, they might not have to go into quarantine after being in contact with infected persons. Health Minister Jens Spahn said persons who had been fully vaccinated could get the same rights individuals with negative Corona tests already had.
All relevant Corona numbers for Germany, and daily Corona updates, can be found in our Corona chronology.
The number of newly infected persons in Germany remains high. More than 23,000 infections and 286 Corona-related deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. The percentage of citizens who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 at least once now stands at 22.2 percent, while 7 percent got the two shots that are required. If Germany’s vaccination campaign continued at this pace, it would take another 630 days, or almost two years, until 70 percent of all residents are vaccinated completely. But it is supposed to be sped up further.
Worries About Indian Coronavirus Variant
Experts and politicians in Germany have a new worry. It concerns the more aggressive and dangerous Indian Coronavirus mutation. So far, 21 cases have been confirmed in Germany. The British variant B.1.1.7 had become dominant in Germany within a few weeks. Dangerous Corona mutations are one of the reasons for the federal government’s cautious Corona policies that are being criticized from all sides, including by self-proclaimed experts.
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