Coronavirus surge puts pressure on Germany’s coalition hopefuls

Berlin (dpa) – A dramatic surge in coronavirus infections in Germany is putting extra pressure on the negotiations to form a new coalition government.

Both the outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on Monday for more concerted action against a fourth wave of infections.

“The federal government and states need to take firm action,” said Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert. Once decided on, new measures needed to presented clearly to the public, he said.

Steinmeier said, “We must do more to break this wave.” To the unvaccinated he said: “Go and get vaccinated! It’s about your health, and the future of your country!”

The three parties involved in Germany’s coalition negotiations – the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP) – are working on a plan for further restrictions mainly aimed at people not yet vaccinated against Covid-19, in a bid to stem the outbreak.

A final proposal is expected by Thursday, when the new measures to amend the current law are put to a vote in parliament.

The seven-day incidence rate of infection in Germany has soared above previous records, hitting 303 on Monday. The RKI disease control institute registered 23,607 new infections and 43 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The number of hospital admissions per 100,000 people in the past week – which has become a more important measure since widespread vaccination – is at 4.7 as of Friday. The figure is rising but far from pandemic highs.

The probable future chancellor, the SPD’s Olaf Scholz, said on Monday as the latest round of coalition negotiations began in Berlin, “We will take all the decisions necessary to tackle the infection situation.”

The coalition partners are planning “effectively a lockdown for the unvaccinated,” senior SPD lawmaker Dirk Wiese told public broadcaster ZDF.

According to a draft decision seen by dpa, unvaccinated people would need a negative coronavirus test to travel by bus or train, and at the workplace. Contact restrictions would also be possible. Travel restrictions or curfews are apparently not part of the current plan, and neither are rules that close down restaurants.

The new legislation would allow Germany’s federal states to impose a variety of stricter measures according to the infection situation, Wiese said.

“We are not afraid of making unpopular decisions,” Wiese said.

On the question of whether workers in certain professions – for example health-care workers – should be forced to get vaccinated, the coalition partners said they were still discussing the issue.

There was brief confusion earlier in the day when a senior Green politician said a joint position had been agreed. But this turned out later not to be the case.

Outgoing Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, from the conservative Bavarian CSU party, accused the three parties of an inability to come to a decision.

Scheuer also said he was sceptical that regulations governing access to public transport could be enforced.