BERLIN – The numbers speak for themselves: the watchword is mobility. Tired of the long apnea of the pandemic, the Germans have started to move again. And with them, the coronavirus. In recent days, according to the “Mobility Monitoring” of the Koch Institute (RKI), Germans have moved only 22% less than in the pre-Covid period. “They go to the office too much, they meet too much in private, especially in rural areas, and they wear too little masks in public places”, summarizes the CDU parliamentarian. Marian Wendt, who carefully studied the data. The Germans are adhering less and less to the rules.
Since the end of March, according to the RKI, which anonymously processes the movements of mobile phones, the trend is slowly but steadily “getting worse” – and with it the infections. Today Germany has 25,110 new infections, yesterday there were over 31,000. On average over the past week, about 20,000 Germans have fallen ill every day. The average incidence has risen to 160 infected per hundred thousand inhabitants in the last seven days.
The Koch Institute notes that there is a “clear correlation” between mobility and the belief that current restrictions measures are “too harsh”. Furthermore, “since citizens are less worried about the dangers of Covid-19, mobility is increasing”.
Germany slows down vaccination pace. Merkel imposes a new lockdown: “The situation is serious”
by our correspondent Tonia Mastrobuoni
It is the reason why Angela Merkel, with an act of empire, last week canceled the conference with the lands and formulated a law that reached the Bundestag today. And in her report to the lower house of the German Parliament, the chancellor reiterated that “the virus does not forgive delays” and motivated the strongest measure of the package, the curfew from 21 to 5 am, thus: “The point is to reduce contacts, we must obtain a limitation of mobility “. After nine in the evening you could only go around for work or to walk the dog.
The so-called “emergency brake” which should be triggered every time the infections exceed 100 per 100 thousand inhabitants, “is indispensable, even belated”, he said in front of the parliamentarians. In addition to automatically triggering the curfew, the new law would reduce private meetings to two groups of cohabitants and a maximum of five people, excluding children under 14 and would require the closure of shops. The “emergency brake” would be suspended only after three consecutive days of incidence below 100.
Germany, Chancellor Merkel: “The situation is serious, very serious”
“The picture is very serious”, Merkel specified, recalling that the curfew has already been applied “for months” in some lands. And that the situation of seriously ill patients is now on the verge of sustainability for the health system. There are currently over 5,600 patients in intensive care. “Who are we to ignore the cries of doctors for help? We cannot leave doctors and medical personnel alone, they cannot win the war against the virus alone.” For the Chancellor “we must do everything to break the third wave of the pandemic”.
But there are many doubts – even on the part of jurists who advise the chancellery, according to rumors – about the applicability of the curfew, as well as fears that it could be swept away by appeals. Therefore, some politicians ask that in addition to the incidence criterion, others – the vaccination trend, the virus reproduction rate or the share of positive swabs – be considered in order to trigger it.
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