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German cities to receive extra €57 billion in aid to weather corona crisis

Germany's Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is planning an aid package worth €57 billion to help local authorities weather the devastating economic storm unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic, German media reported Saturday.

Published: 18 May 2020 09:54 CEST

German cities to receive extra €57 billion in aid to weather corona crisis

Scholz speaking on Saturday in Berlin at the SPD headquarters. Photo: DPA

The help would come on top of an aid package worth a staggering €1.1 trillion rushed through parliament to shield Europe's biggest economy from the fallout of the pandemic.

The latest support would include an emergency aid component making up for lost tax revenues from crisis-hit businesses, newspapers Rheinische Post and Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung reported, citing a finance ministry proposal.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus in Germany: Who will receive financial help – and how much?

All affected municipalities will “receive a lump-sum compensation for their lower corporate tax revenues,” the newspapers said.

Half of the cost of this compensation would be borne by the federal government, and the other half by state authorities.

Latest estimates from the ministry show that this year's corporate tax intake of local authorities would come in €11.8 billion short of a previous forecast.

In addition, the package would offer help to the most heavily-indebted municipalities.

The federal government will take on half of the debt incurred by the 2,000 most heavily-indebted municipalities — which was estimated at €45 billion in 2018.

“This protection shield should not only get cities and municipalities through the current difficult situation, but also put them permanently in a position where they can better perform their tasks,” Scholz, from the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), told Rheinische Post.

Underlining the unprecedented scale of the crisis unleashed by the pandemic, Germany has opened its coffers to help shore up the economy, which was headed for “the worst recession” in its post-war history.

READ ALSO: Germany braces for 'worst recession' in post-war history

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Pandemic in Germany unlikely to end this year, says top virologist

Drosten previously said that Germany would probably be able to declare the end of the pandemic this year.

But in an interview with Spiegel, Drosten said he had reevaluated his opinion.

“When the Alpha variant came, it was very surprising for me. When Delta appeared I was sceptical at first, then with Omicron we had to reorient ourselves again. And since January there have already been new Omicron subtypes.

“So I would actually like to correct myself: I no longer believe that by the end of the year we will have the impression that the pandemic is over.”

READ ALSO: End is in sight for pandemic in Germany, says virologist

Drosten also said that Germany will not see a largely Covid-free summer, which has been the case in previous years, and a further increase in infections in autumn.

“We are actually already seeing an exponential increase in case numbers again,” Drosten said.

“The BA.5 variant (of Omicron) is simply very transmissible, and people are losing their transmission protection from the last vaccination at the same time.”

In other countries, he said, when the number of cases become high, hospitalisation and death rates also rise again. “Unfortunately, that will also be the case here,” said Drosten, but added: “Overall, however, far fewer people will become seriously ill and die than in 2021.”

Drosten said he expected many more infections from September.

“I hope that the school holidays will dampen the increase in cases somewhat. But from September, I fear we will have very high case numbers,” the head of the virology department at Berlin’s Charité hospital told Spiegel.

READ ALSO: German Health Minister lays out autumn Covid plan

Virologist Christian Drosten at a Covid press conference in 2021.

Virologist Christian Drosten at a Covid press conference in 2021. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

If the government does not take any action, he predicted there would be a lot of sick leave across all industries. “That will become a real problem,” he said.

Drosten said he did not expect overcrowded intensive care units in Germany.

But the new BA.5 sub-variant, which is becoming dominant in Germany, may affect people more strongly.

“The wheel is turning more towards disease again,” said Drosten. It is not true that a virus automatically becomes more and more harmless in the course of evolution. “That makes me even more worried about the autumn,” he said.

Drosten recommends wearing masks indoors during the colder months, saying it is “the least painful” measure.

If, in addition, “up to 40 million people could be immunised or given a booster vaccination” before winter, for example by urgently calling for company vaccinations, that would “really make a difference”, Drosten said.

In the long term, he said it’s inevitable that people will become infected with coronavirus.

He said the population immunity due to vaccinations and infections will at some point be so strong that the virus will become less important. “Then we will be in an endemic state,” said Drosten. In the worst case, however, this could take “several more winters”.

However, Drosten warned against people trying to deliberately infect themselves with Covid, saying getting the infection in summer doesn’t mean people will be protected in winter.

Drosten himself said he has not yet contracted Covid-19.

“So far, I guess I’ve just been lucky,” he said. “I rarely put myself in risky situations, but I’m not overly cautious either.”

‘Pandemic depends on behaviour’

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI)’s latest weekly report, more outbreaks are occurring in care homes, and the number of patients in intensive care units is slightly rising as infections go up.

The institute said there had been a 23 percent increase in the 7-day incidence compared to the previous week. On Friday the 7-day incidence stood at 618.2 infections per 100,000 people. There were 108,190 infections within the latest 24 hour period and 90 deaths.

“The further course of the pandemic depends not only on the occurrence of new virus variants and the uptake of vaccinations on offer, it also depends to a large extent on the behaviour of the population,” said the RKI.

According to the DIVI intensive care register, the number of Covid-19 patients in ICUs had increased to 810 on Thursday this week, from about 600 at the beginning of the month.

However, that number is still low compared to previous Covid peaks when thousands of people were in intensive care in Germany.

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