Coronavirus Pandemic Federal and state governments agree on contact restrictions until 29 June
Berlin · Now it's official: contact restrictions due to the corona pandemic will remain in place for at least another full month. But at least almost everywhere in Germany there will be more relaxations from June 6.
Contact restrictions due to the corona virus pandemic will be extended until June 29. That was agreed on by federal and state governments, the Federal Press Office in Berlin announced on Tuesday evening.
Starting on June 6, the states may allow relaxations – for example, that in the future a maximum of ten people or members of two households may meet in public. Thuringia, however, is keeping a special option open for further relaxation, while other states may want to stick with stricter regulations.
The compromise was agreed upon by the states and the chancellery. Hours of deliberations on Monday were initially fruitless.
Federal and state governments continue to recommend keeping the number of people with whom one has contact as low as possible and the circle as constant as possible. They said that hygiene and distance rules should also be observed during private meetings at home and indoors. The number of people should correspond to the size of the rooms "and sufficient ventilation should be provided". Where possible, private meetings should be held outdoors, because of the considerably lower risk of infection. "In any case, the traceability of the participants should be guaranteed", they said.
As before, the implementation of the measures is the responsibility of the separate states in Germany. Stricter restrictions are also possible, "where the regional dynamics of the infection process so require".
According to the notification, the decision is based on the assessment that the number of new corona infections in Germany is still at a low level one month after the start of the easing measures. This success is essentially based on the fact that distance and hygiene rules have been implemented and adhered to in all relevant areas, according to the German government and the federal states. "Many thanks for this to all citizens who have made this possible and who consistently observe these rules".
In the protocol declaration of the Free State of Thuringia, it is stated, among other things, that it reserves the right to adopt deviating regulations for the stay in public spaces, provided that the occurrence of infection allows this. Minister President Bodo Ramelow (of political party Die Linke) had declared that state regulations are emergency interventions that are only justified if the occurrence of infection makes this necessary. From government circles in Erfurt, it was also said that other federal states had announced deviating regulations, including more restrictive ones.
Bavaria's Minister President Markus Söder had warned against this: "Anyone who thinks that Corona is slowly disappearing is naive at best.“ He was sceptical about the drifting apart of the states.
(Original text: dpa, Translation: Mareike Graepel)