Below is a potpourri of Corona-related news from Germany, arranged as a timeline from the last few days.

Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from the German-language service of Epoch Times:

Almost two out of three Germans for compulsory Corona vaccination

An overview of the latest developments relating to Corona measures, politics and vaccination.

+++ News ticker +++
1:37 p.m.: South Africa is no longer considered a risk area from Sunday

In South Africa and neighboring countries, the Corona variant Omicron raged first. From Sunday these countries are no longer even considered a “high-risk area”. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Friday that it would make a corresponding change. In addition to South Africa, Angola, Burundi, Eswatini (former Swaziland), Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Uganda will also be removed from the list.

As of Sunday, new “high-risk areas” Corona are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, Guatemala, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Singapore and Ukraine. “Virus variant areas”, i.e. the higher category with stricter travel restrictions, still do not exist, according to the RKI. The category of “simple” risk areas was already deleted last summer.

12:00 noon: Almost two out of three Germans support compulsory Corona vaccination

According to a survey, a clear majority of Germans are in favor of introducing general Corona vaccination. In the new ZDF “Politbarometer”, 62 percent of the participants spoke out in favor of it, as the broadcaster announced on Friday. 36 percent rejected such a requirement. At the same time, only 39 percent believed that compulsory vaccination would actually be introduced — 59 percent assumed that this would not happen.

Meanwhile, the fear of the virus is receding. While in the previous survey in mid-January 53 percent of the participants stated that they saw their health as being endangered by the pathogen, this time only 42 percent said so. 55 percent were of the opinion that the virus did not endanger their health.

Satisfaction with the currently applicable Corona containment measures increased compared to the previous survey. 49 percent of the participants rated the measures as appropriate — five percentage points more than before. 25 percent (minus five) thought the measures had to be tougher, 23 percent (plus one) thought they were exaggerated.

74 percent also expressed their belief that the hospitals can cope with the Omicron wave; 23 percent did not believe this. However, only a good fifth of those surveyed (21 percent) took the view that the Corona pandemic would by and large be over in Germany after the Omicron wave. The vast majority of 75 percent assumed that there would be further waves with new virus variants and high numbers of cases.

For the “Politbarometer”, the Mannheim research group conducted election surveys from January 25 to 27, 1249 randomly selected voters by telephone. The error range of the representative survey is around two to three percentage points, depending on the proportion.

10 a.m.: New IMK boss Herrmann for a differentiated view of Corona demonstrators

The new chairman of the Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK), Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU), has called for a differentiated view of the participants in protests against the Corona policy. “You have to make a clear distinction and not lump all protesters together,” Herrmann told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung on Friday.

As long as someone only protests against restrictions or against excessive bureaucracy and state regulations, that is absolutely permissible. “They are not automatically extremists or enemies of the Constitution.”

There are also right-wing extremists among the participants, but they vary greatly from state to state, Herrmann said. The proportion is higher in Saxony, Thuringia or Brandenburg, but he estimates that it is significantly lower in Bavaria. The state must keep an eye on these participants — this is a particular concern for him as IMK chairman: “In particular, I will campaign for increased observation of extremist efforts in the scene.”

Because of the many different participants, he does not assume that the Corona protests will lead to a collective movement of dissatisfied citizens. “The protest scene is politically much too heterogeneous for that. They will not come together under one roof because their other views are far too different.”

8:50 a.m.: Caritas President: For a higher vaccination rate “approach people positively”

On the question of how the Corona vaccination rate in Germany can be increased, Caritas President Eva Welskop-Deffaa advocates a positive approach to the unvaccinated. “Our efforts are aimed at approaching people positively, whether through new video messages, information in simple language, the use of vaccination vehicles or vaccination campaigns in churches,” she told the Rheinische Post on Friday. “We have to stay close and take fears seriously. It’s no use insulting the people who are still hesitating and hesitating.”

Increasing the vaccination rate is “the key to overcoming the pandemic,” said the president of the Catholic welfare association. “Three aspects are central to this: the further development of the appropriate vaccine, the promotion of sufficient production and increasing the actual willingness to be vaccinated.”

With regard to the willingness to vaccinate, Welskop-Deffaa supported the proposal of a parliamentary group around the FDP politician Andrew Ullmann, which provides for mandatory advice on the subject. “I think that’s a great idea, as a supplement or alternative to the general obligation to vaccinate.” For the introduction of such an obligation to vaccinate, “a legally secure, precise justification is needed,” added Welskop-Deffaa. “That seems difficult to me at the moment, given the Omicron facts.”

8:15 a.m.: Minister of Health: Endemic not necessarily an end point

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has warned against seeing the transition of the Corona crisis to the so-called endemic phase as the end point. “Endemic can mean a lot,” he told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Friday edition).

“In the best case, the virus becomes more harmless and only triggers small and locally limited outbreaks.” But nobody knows whether that will happen. “We can also get into an endemic situation in which a very dangerous variant is dominant, against which we have to continue to protect the weak at great expense.” Nobody can predict how the virus will develop. “We have to be prepared for anything.”

Despite the current high number of infections, Lauterbach does not see the pandemic as being out of control. The numbers are within a range that experts at the Robert Koch Institute would have previously calculated. “Germany is currently having significantly lower case numbers than other European countries,” said Lauterbach.

Because of limited capacity in the laboratories, the minister relies on antigen tests. His ministry intends to present a new regulation shortly, according to which only a few people are eligible for a PCR test. “The antigen test is now ideally suited for many test occasions because it works reliably and the results are available more quickly than with PCR tests,” said Lauterbach.

+++ January 27th +++

6:30 p.m.: Lauterbach criticizes vaccination-critical nurses

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has criticized nurses who want to oppose the facility-related vaccination requirement. “It is unacceptable for medical staff to deny scientific findings and even be prepared to endanger patients,” he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Friday edition). One has to accept that individual specialists will leave their facilities when vaccination mandates in hospitals and nursing homes take effect from March 15th.

“But then the question arises anyway as to whether the person was even suitable for the job.” The minister said he did not believe that many nurses were critical of the Corona vaccination. The Social Democrat wants to stick to the implementation date. When asked by individual federal states to postpone the introduction, he said: “That’s out of the question for us.”

Lauterbach said his ministry is in exchange with the federal states to enable uniform implementation of the institution-related vaccination requirement. This topic is currently being discussed “intensively” with the federal states.

4:10 p.m.: EMA approves Pfizer’s Corona drug

The EU medicines agency EMA has approved the Corona drug Paxlovid from the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The EMA said on Thursday that it recommends approval of Paxlovid “for the treatment of adults” who do not require additional oxygen and who are at increased risk of a severe course of the disease. This makes Paxlovid the first antiviral drug in pill form to be approved in the EU.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had already granted emergency use authorization to the drug shortly before Christmas. Paxlovid is used in high-risk patients with mild to moderate symptoms of the disease.

7:40 a.m.: Chairwoman of the Ethics Council fears social effects if vaccination is compulsory

After the first Bundestag debate on general vaccination, the chairwoman of the German Ethics Council, Alena Buyx, was happy about the exchange. “The orientation debate was very useful to explore the arguments associated with compulsory vaccination,” she told the ARD daily topics on Wednesday. The Ethics Council thinks that compulsory vaccination is primarily “to avoid overloading the health system and many restrictions in everyday life.”

One will now have to look at “how the vaccination effect develops”. Regarding the protests of the vaccination critics, Buyx said, “The concern about the social effects is a really important one.” The politicians were “explicitly called upon to counteract such front positions that are emerging as well as possible.” You have to “keep a really good eye on that.”

7:15 a.m.: Italy will relax entry requirements for EU citizens from February

From February, Italy will relax entry requirements for citizens from other EU countries. According to a decree signed by Health Minister Roberto Speranza, from next month the vaccination card for travelers from other EU countries should be sufficient to prove a full vaccination, recovery or a negative Corona test. Italy is currently also requiring an additional negative Corona test upon entry from those who have been fully vaccinated or have recovered.

The EU member states agreed on Tuesday to make it easier for citizens with a valid Corona certificate to travel within the EU. In Brussels, they spoke out in favor of the fact that vaccinated or recovered people do not need an additional Corona test to enter another EU country.

+++ January 26th +++

7:15 p.m.: Constitutional Court: AfD lawsuit against 2G Plus regulation in the Bundestag rejected

The Federal Constitutional Court has rejected an application by the AfD parliamentary group against the 2G Plus regulation in the Bundestag. In the decision issued on Wednesday, the judges in Karlsruhe wrote that the AfD’s application was “inadmissible” because it did not provide sufficient justification for the fact that the contested regulation threatened a “serious disadvantage”. The AfD had requested an interim order from the court to allow unvaccinated MPs access to the Bundestag’s Holocaust memorial ceremony on Thursday.

4:50 p.m.: Baden-Württemberg gets out of the Luca app

The state of Baden-Württemberg no longer wants to use the Luca app for contact tracing in the future.

The contract with the private operator of the software will not be extended beyond the end of March, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Social Affairs of the German Press Agency confirmed on Wednesday in Stuttgart. Baden-Württemberg’s Health Minister Manne Lucha (Greens) wanted to inform the Social Committee on Wednesday afternoon about the government’s expected decision.

Last year, many restaurant owners and event organizers used the Luca app to record the contacts of their visitors, as required by law, without paperwork. Now people should use the state and free Corona warning app. However, the Luca app should continue to be used until the end of March.

11:30 a.m.: Austria ends lockdown for unvaccinated people

Austria is ending the previous lockdown for unvaccinated people on Monday. This was announced by Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) on Wednesday. 2G in retail and gastronomy should remain for the time being.

The lockdown for people without a full Corona vaccination came into force on November 15th. From November 22nd to December 12th, a lockdown with strict exit and contact restrictions also applied to vaccinated people.

11:15 a.m.: Denmark plans to lift all Corona restrictions on February 1

In Denmark, the government wants to lift all Corona restrictions next month. Health Minister Magnus Heunicke announced in a letter to MPs published on Wednesday that he wanted the classification of Covid-19 as a “threat to society” to be removed from February 1. This would de facto mean the lifting of the national Corona restrictions that currently apply, such as a mask requirement and reduced opening hours for bars.

10:50 a.m.: NRW Prime Minister Wüst sees “upheaval phase of the Corona pandemic”

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) sees the Corona pandemic in Germany facing a possible turning point. “We are in a phase of upheaval in the pandemic,” said Wüst on Wednesday in the state parliament in Düsseldorf.

People now need perspectives for a “gradual return to normality”. The head of government demanded that the previous protective measures should be scaled back at the moment when the health system could be ruled out.

Wüst said that given the increasing number of infections, there is still time for “mindfulness and decisive action”. In the coming weeks, however, you have to think in both directions — both in the direction of protective measures and in the direction of opening prospects.

10:25 a.m.: Association President Wolf on compulsory vaccination: “That would be a total collapse”

Before the first Bundestag debate on a general obligation to vaccinate, the President of the employers’ association Gesamtmetall, Stefan Wolf, warned against an entry ban for unvaccinated people in companies. “That would be a total collapse,” said Wolf on Bild TV. Wolf emphasized that it would be “very difficult for the industry if the ban on entering (no entry for unvaxxed) comes — as we already have in care.”

The head of the association of employers in the metal and electrical industry estimated that there were 700,000 to 800,000 employees who were not vaccinated. There are a total of 3.9 million employees in the industry.

The facility-related vaccination requirement in the healthcare sector is scheduled to come into force on March 15. There are fears that the layoffs of unvaccinated people could exacerbate the shortage of staff there.

7:25 a.m.: Response to “great tensions”: The Netherlands relaxes strict Corona rules

After a good month, the strict Corona requirements in the Netherlands have been once again largely relaxed. As Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Tuesday, restaurants, pubs and museums will be allowed to reopen from Wednesday. His government is thus reacting to the “great tensions” that the restrictions in the cultural and hospitality sectors have triggered.

“We are taking a big step today to reopen the Netherlands,” said Rutte. At the same time, he pointed out that this poses a risk given the continued high number of infections: “That seems contradictory given that the number of infections is going through the roof,” said Rutte. “We have to say clearly that we are taking a risk.”

The renewed Corona lockdown was imposed in the Netherlands on December 19: all non-essential shops, restaurants, cinemas, museums and theaters had to close. The fact that shops, gyms and hairdressers were allowed to reopen on January 15, while bars, restaurants, cafes and cultural institutions remained closed, had led to great resentment and protests.

In some Dutch cities, cafes opened despite the ban, numerous museums and concert halls opened their doors for days of action and said people could get their hair cut there or take fitness courses.