Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) wants to discuss at the federal-state meeting planned for Friday what options there are to offset additional costs for the control of the 2G rule. “We know that many areas, many industries that remain open now, whether that is retail, gastronomy or others, naturally have additional burdens due to the controls at 2G,” said the deputy chairman of the Prime Minister’s Conference (MPK) after one Meeting of the Berlin Senate on Tuesday.
According to the 2G rule, only those who have been fully vaccinated or recovered have access to restaurants and many shops, for example. The staff who control the entrance areas accordingly cause additional costs, said Giffey. “That is a specific question that has been given to us from the Berlin economy, to what extent these costs, which arise for the increased control effort, can be taken into account in the bridging aid, in the fixed costs,” said the SPD politician. “I think that’s a very legitimate question.”
In addition, Giffey announced that he would do everything possible to prevent school closings in Berlin. The results of the rapid tests in schools so far have shown that there is “no excessive number of test reports in children”. “We’re on the same level as we were before Christmas,” she said. “Given this current situation, we definitely want to stick to face-to-face teaching.” (dpa)