(ANSA-AFP) - BERLIN, NOV 17 - A ferocious fourth wave of
coronavirus presents the first major test for Germany's
coalition-in-waiting, caught off guard and scrambling to agree
on a response before it even takes office. On Tuesday, the
weekly incidence rate of the virus hit another high one day
after surpassing 300 out of every 100,000 people, the first time
it had crossed the threshold, fuelled in part by sluggish
vaccination rates. In Bavaria, and the east German states of
Thuringia and Saxony, the situation is reaching a critical point
amid warnings that hospitals across the country will hit
capacity in the first two weeks of December. The incoming
government is recommending that people need to be vaccinated or
prove a negative Covid test to use public transport and wants to
re-impose working from home rules where there is no "compelling
business reason". The prospective coalition partners will
formally present their coronavirus proposals to the lower house
of German parliament for approval on Thursday. A crisis meeting
between the government and the heads of Germany's 16 states is
also scheduled for Thursday, with the aim of better coordinating
the country's coronavirus response. But the vacuum created by a
government in transition has sown confusion. On Monday, a
leading Green parliamentarian announced a vaccination
requirement for health professionals, before being forced to row
back. The suggestion is still on the drawing board in talks
between her party, the Social Democrats and the liberal Free
Democrats, who said Tuesday they plan to lay out a draft
coalition contract next week.
Would-be chancellor Olaf Scholz from the centre-left Social
Democrats, who has been accused of staying in the background as
the Covid crisis rages, said it was "right to start a debate"
about vaccine mandates for certain professions. His vagueness
drew immediate criticism from Der Spiegel weekly, which accused
him of copying Merkel in staying on the fence until the last
minute. "Merkel herself couldn't have said it better, or less
precise," it wrote. The growing wave in a country that has
recorded over five million infections during the pandemic is the
first test for the incoming coalition before it has even put pen
to paper on a deal. "We have difficult weeks ahead of us,"
outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday. "With the
number of cases we have at the moment, hospitals across the
country will reach capacity in the first two weeks of December,"
Social Democrat health expert Karl Lauterbach said. As such,
access to public transport including "to school and taxis" will
be limited to people who have been vaccinated, recovered or
tested negative, according to a draft text seen by AFP.
(ANSA-AFP).
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