The health ministers of Germany’s 16 federal states on Monday urged the government in Berlin to start preparing for a new wave of coronavirus infections at the start of the cold season, transmits MIA.
“The pandemic is not over yet – we must not be deceived by the current declining infection rates,” Saxony-Anhalt Health Minister Petra Grimm-Benne said after a video call with German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
The ministers urged the federal government to come up with a “master plan” fast before consulting with state authorities on the matter, according to a statement.
The German government could make masks compulsory inside again, the joint statement by state health ministers said, adding that Berlin could also reintroduce the need to show proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test in order to visit certain establishments.
Lauterbach welcomed the suggestion, saying that the states “must be in a position to react to a possible flare-up of the pandemic.”
“We have to be prepared for the cold season. A clear legal framework is part of that,” he added.
