Autumn still seems far away. But there are already warnings to make preparations for another corona outbreak. The FDP makes it clear under which conditions it supports measures.
FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki has called for a parliamentary review of the corona policy and made it clear that his party will only support possible renewed corona restrictions in autumn under strict conditions.
“There will not be another autumn and winter in which fundamental rights are restricted because of a diffuse data fog,” said the Bundestag Vice President of the German Press Agency. Meanwhile, education unions are already calling for precautions for the coming school year.
Kubicki accused the Federal Ministry of Health and the Robert Koch Institute of not having been able to “collect reasonably usable data” in more than two years of the pandemic. The Free Democrats will only change the Infection Protection Act again to make stricter measures possible again if this change can be sufficiently scientifically justified and is no longer based on mere allegations, as has almost always been the case in the past .
Mask requirements are currently only permitted in a few areas
According to the currently applicable Infection Protection Act, mask requirements are still permitted in a few areas such as medical practices or public transport, and there may still be compulsory tests in schools. In order to be able to order further measures, the federal states must declare regions as hotspots by state parliament resolution. According to the law, all these rules can only be applied until September 23rd.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach had already spoken out in April in favor of amending the Infection Protection Act by autumn so that the known containment measures would be possible again. The President of the German Teachers’ Association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, is also in favor of compulsory masks in schools being prescribed again.
“Politicians are not doing their homework on the topic of pandemics and schools again,” he told the editorial network Germany (RND). In his opinion, masks could be “a decisive factor” in a possible autumn corona wave in order to keep schools open. The federal government must therefore quickly adapt the Infection Protection Act again.
Finnern: create the basis for compulsory masks
The chairwoman of the education and science union, Maike Finnern, also calls for preparations for the autumn with a view to the schools: “A good test strategy and wearing masks in the buildings can also play a decisive role in the future. The legal basis for this must now be created, for example for a mask requirement, so that measures can take effect quickly and legally if necessary, »she told the dpa.
Kubicki defended his party’s corona policy, which had enforced in the traffic light coalition that corona restrictions expire earlier than advocated by SPD or Green representatives: “It is currently apparent that the current course, which the FDP is taking under heavy hostilities enforced, did not lead to the predicted collapse of the health care system.” He looks forward to future discussions about possible renewed tightening with great composure, said the FDP Vice, pointing out that this requires the “positive approval of all coalition partners”.
Kubicki on Corona policy: “A series of mistakes”
According to Kubicki, “a number of mistakes” have been made in the corona policy of the past two years. He called the school closures, an “inhumane” isolation of residents of old people’s homes or the “15 km Corona line” – at times, citizens were allowed to move a maximum of 15 kilometers from their place of residence. This policy harmed children and the elderly the most. “We owe them a lot: I believe that only sensible parliamentary processing and unreserved clarification can help to identify errors as such and thus fill in social rifts.”
