BERLIN (AP): German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged parliament Friday to pass a bill that would mandate a nationwide “emergency brake” when the spread of the coronavirus becomes too rapid, saying that it was needed to prevent the country’s health care system from becoming overwhelmed. “The situation is serious, very serious, and we need to take it seriously,” she told lawmakers.
“There is no way around it. We need to stop this third wave of the pandemic… and to achieve this we need to better combine the strengths of the federal, state and local governments than we have been.” Passing the bill is an uphill battle for Merkel, with state governments reluctant to cede any authority over health care to the federal government. It needs approval not only by the lower house of parliament, which Merkel addressed Friday, but by the state-run upper house as well. The speech to parliament came as the country recorded 25,831 new cases of COVID-19 overnight and 247 additional deaths, according to the Robert Koch Institute disease control center.
The emergency brake being proposed would apply in regions with more than 100 new weekly cases per 100,000 inhabitants. It would mandate the implementation of a uniform set of rules imposed by the federal government, entailing the closure of stores, cultural and sports facilities, limits on personal contacts and nighttime curfews. It seeks to end the patchwork of measures that have characterized the pandemic response across Germany’s 16 states.
In Germany, lockdown measures are decided at a state level and many have expressed frustration and confusion in recent months as governors interpreted rules agreed with the federal government in different ways, despite having similar infection rates. Under the legislation, states would be free to set more flexible rules in regions with fewer than 100 new cases each week per 100,000 inhabitants.
Currently, Germany nationwide is just above 160 cases each week per 100,000 residents. “Intensive care physicians are making one call after another for help. Who are we if we leave these calls unheard?” Merkel asked. “We cannot be permitted to leave the doctors and nurses alone.” The lower house of parliament is expected to vote on the bill next week, with the upper house to follow.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged lawmakers on Friday to approve new powers that would allow her to force coronavirus lockdowns and curfews on areas with high infection rates, saying a majority of Germans were in favour of stricter measures. “The third wave of the pandemic has our country firmly in its grip,” said Merkel, whose speech in parliament was interrupted by heckling from lawmakers of the far-right Alternative for Germany party opposed to lockdowns. “Intensive care workers are sending one distress call after the other. Who are we to ignore their pleas?” Merkel said.
Her government wants parliament to change the Infection Protection Act to enable federal authorities to enforce restrictions even if regional leaders resist them, hoping to alleviate pressure on intensive care units. The imposition of curfews and granting the federal government powers to force them on Germany’s 16 states has also drawn criticism from within Merkel’s conservative bloc, which opinion polls suggest will suffer their worst ever result in a September national election.
Unlike Britain and France, Germany has been reluctant to impose drastic limits on movement in a country fiercely protective of democratic freedoms due
o its Nazi and Communist past. Opponents of the lockdown have held demonstrations across Germany, but particularly in the former east, which is more supportive of the AfD. The far-right party says restrictions have failed to halt the pandemic and that they cause more damage to both the economy and people’s mental health.
Merkel acknowledged in her speech that the new powers were no bullet-proof solution to the pandemic, which she said could only be defeated with vaccinations. AfD parliamentary leader Alice Weidel said the new measures were an unprecedented attack on basic democratic freedoms. “The proposed amendments of the Infection Protection Act are an alarming document of an authoritarian state,” said Weidel. “This relapse into the authoritarian demon is coming from the chancellery and you, Madame Chancellor.” Merkel gazed at her smartphone during most of Weidel’s speech.
