German parliament green lights law easing restrictions for vaccinated people 1 minute read
Berlin, May 6 (EFE).- The lower house of the German Parliament (the Bundestag) on Thursday approved a regulation that would mean that some coronavirus restrictions would no longer apply to citizens who have already been vaccinated or who have recovered from Covid-19.
The fast-tracked regulation received the support of the deputies of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s grand coalition, made up of conservatives and social democrats, as well as the opposition Greens and the Left. It will be submitted on Friday for ratification by the upper house (the Bundesrat), and would come into force between Saturday and Sunday.
Germany Fails the Fight Against the Coronavirus
Germany’s politicians are so scared of ever being accused of “nationalism” by other countries that they do not want to do anything that could create the appearance that Berlin is prioritizing the interests of its own population.
In the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic, Germany was hailed around the world as an example for other countries to follow: the death rate was lower than in most comparable countries; there were no overcrowded intensive care units in Germany, as there were in New York, for example, and many other European countries, including Italy, the United Kingdom and France. However, the situation deteriorated in late 2020/early 2021 and the coronavirus death rate rose to over one thousand per day in January 2021.
More than 30,000 daily infections in Germany and war-like conditions in hospitals
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are becoming more dramatic every day in Germany. After a new record death toll of 952 was reported on Wednesday, the number of those infected also reached a new all-time high on Thursday, exceeding the 30,000 mark for the first time. Across Germany, the positive test rate is currently around 12 percent more than double the value that epidemiologists cite as the threshold beyond which the infection incidence runs out of control.
Refrigerated container for coronavirus dead at the main cemetery in Hanau (AP Photo/Michael Probst)]