Corona infections are still falling, but a new wave could already threaten in autumn. Chancellor Scholz wants to avoid closing daycare centers and schools. A new vaccination campaign is to be prepared.
If the number of corona cases increases again towards the end of the year, the federal and state governments want to avoid closing daycare centers and schools again. Even if the Corona situation is currently positive, it is “clear to everyone that we may find different conditions in winter/autumn,” said Scholz in the evening after consultations with the state representatives in Berlin. However, there should be “no renewed nationwide closures of schools and childcare facilities”. However, before decisions are made on possible further protection requirements such as mask requirements, expert assessments that have yet to be announced should be awaited.
“We now have summer tires on it,” formulated the Chancellor. Now it’s about having “the right winter tires” ready when it matters. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst said that the federal and state governments had agreed on a timetable to prepare a vaccination campaign for autumn and winter. At the same time, it is important that the federal government adjusts the basis for fighting the pandemic in good time before autumn.
In their joint decision, the federal and state governments took note of the decreasing number of infections as an improvement, said Scholz. With a view to autumn and winter, however, preparations must now be made in case the number of infections increases again. “And so the clear agreement is that we prepare for this very moment.”
The goal must be that “all options for action that we need are available in the fall,” said Scholz. Wüst announced that the federal states would create strategies and revise concepts at an early stage to prevent school and daycare closures.
