The deputy FDP chairman Wolfgang Kubicki has sharply criticized Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and accused weakness in the management of his department. "To be honest, I don't assume that Karl Lauterbach will remain in office as Minister of Health for the entire legislative period," said Kubicki of the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" and the "Stuttgarter Nachrichten" (Monday). "The SPD itself is completely annoyed by Lauterbach. If you ask around at his company, the frustration can't be topped. People ask which Twitter channel they have to use to know what the minister wants." Kubicki added: "Lauterbach is getting bogged down. He can't run the house."
The government made up of SPD, Greens and FDP began work almost a year ago. Olaf Scholz took his oath of office as Chancellor on December 8, 2021. After the enthusiasm at the beginning, there was a crunch between the three parties - especially from the FDP, after defeats in state elections, critical voices came to cooperation.
Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) meanwhile accused Lauterbach of having a "basta mentality" in the discussion about the obligation to wear masks in long-distance transport. If the Federal Minister of Health is interested in a uniform regulation, "then he should first take a good look at his own nose and move away from his Basta mentality in relation to the mask requirement in long-distance transport," said Holetschek to the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND, Monday editions).
"I see personal responsibility as the leitmotif of this late Corona phase. That's why I expect that we will waive the mask requirement in public transport as soon as it makes sense," Holetschek told the RND newspapers. He pointed out that the corona measures were never intended to be permanent.
In the afternoon, the federal and state health ministers want to deal with the obligation to wear masks on buses and trains and the obligation to isolate people infected with corona. They connect digitally to the consultations.
Most recently, there had been no uniform line among the transport ministers on the obligation to wear masks in public transport. Some countries wanted to abolish the obligation as early as January 1st, others only after the winter due to the continuing tense situation in the pandemic, according to the conference of transport ministers last Tuesday.
There is a patchwork quilt with a view to the isolation requirement for corona positives. Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate have now lifted the isolation requirement of at least five days. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is critical of hasty decisions on further relaxation of the corona virus in spring.
