Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Against the background of the threat of a second wave of the spread of coronavirus in Germany, the German authorities, who had previously successfully taken control of the situation in the country, are entering a new phase of the fight against the epidemic.

I. According to the German Robert Koch Institute, more than 2 thousand new infections have been registered in Germany over the past 24 hours, which is a record figure since April of this year. The total number of infected people exceeded 236,000.

Such a rapidly changing epidemiological situation and the trend of an increase in new cases forced the German leadership to urgently convene a virtual meeting of the ministers of health of the 16 federal states (administrative regions of Germany), which took place on 24 August 2020.

The main goal is to reassess the situation and develop measures agreed at the federal level to reverse the negative trend and avoid the reintroduction of quarantine measures, while maintaining economic activity in the country.

In an online consultation, senior health officials linked the rise in infections in Germany with the return of a large number of travelers from abroad at the end of the vacation season, as well as the frequent holding of major celebrations and events where physical distancing rules are not properly followed.

In this regard, the Federal Minister of Health of Germany Jens Spahn said that "the celebrations pose the greatest danger of transmission of infection." He suggested that national measures be drawn up to define the limits for holding private parties.

According to him, if the number of infected continues to increase at the same rate, then there will again be a threat of introducing "radical restrictions."

Supporting this proposal, the Minister of Health of Berlin D. Kalaichi drew attention to the congestion of the testing system, the burden on which arose in connection with the return of Germans from a tourist holiday.

For comparison: if from 20 to 26 April 2020, about 364 thousand tests were carried out, then from 27 July to 2 August - about 578 thousand, and during the last week their number exceeded 875 thousand.

If this level is maintained, laboratories will face with a shortage of medical staff and materials. It can also lead to delays in informing the infected and their contacts in a timely manner.

In this regard, it was proposed to adjust the testing strategy by canceling free mandatory tests for travelers, and instead reintroduce a 14-day quarantine for those returning from areas with epidemiological risk.

At the end of the meeting, the ministers came to a consensus that in the current environment, the main capabilities of the health care system should focus on patient care and treatment in order to maintain a low mortality rate from the virus in the country. At the same time, the proposal to introduce unified nationwide anti-crisis measures did not receive general support.

II. Commenting on the results of the meeting, most German publications (Badische-zeitung, Tagesschau) note that Germany is in the process of revising its strategy to combat coronavirus, which is due to a sharp increase in the number of new infections.

In these conditions, the authorities fear a possible escape of the epidemiological situation out of control, which may minimize the previously achieved successes in containing the epidemic.

A similar point of view is shared by observers of the British edition of the Guardian. In their opinion, the German local strategy to combat the coronavirus, which proved itself earlier, may turn out to be less effective in the new rapidly changing realities.

However, the main problem was the disagreement between the federal states, some of which support the introduction of uniform and more stringent restrictive measures, while others do not support stricter sanitary rules.

It was the need to coordinate this problem with the heads of the federal states and determine a strategy to combat the worsening epidemiological situation in the country that pushed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to convene a meeting with the prime ministers of 16 states, which is scheduled for 27 August 2020.

In this regard, experts note that the head of the German government continues to adhere to his fundamental approaches in the fight against the pandemic.

Firstly, in making decisions, she proceeds from the scientific recommendations of the most authoritative specialists in epidemiology. From the very beginning of the crisis, Angela Merkel was able to gather a group of authoritative experts who point out the most effective ways to solve epidemiological problems.

Secondly, for political reasons, A. Merkel relies on the public opinion of citizens, building a balance between the recommendations of epidemiologists, the wishes of society and the needs of the economy. To this end, the government has also built effective communication with the population, providing them with detailed information about the results of coronavirus research and the possible consequences of decisions or inaction of the authorities.

Thirdly, the flexible use of the federal system of the country’s structure, in which Berlin develops general forms of infection control, and the state governments apply them based on the real situation in their regions.

In this regard, the DW believes that the results of the upcoming meeting of heads of federal and state governments will allow agreeing on a new strategy at the national level.

At the same time, the Frankfurter Rundschau observers rule out the introduction of large adjustments in the German strategy, and regard possible new measures as adaptation to the changed epidemiological situation.

According to the publication, Merkur, one of the key issues of the upcoming meeting will be the nationwide regulation of sanitary rules, including the issue of a general tightening of the mask regime in workplaces and in all educational institutions. This is due to the fact that the mask regime and penalties for non-observance vary greatly: in Berlin, fines can reach 500 euros, and in Rhineland-Palatinate - only 10 euros.

In general, against the backdrop of the growing spread of coronavirus in Europe, the German government is striving to develop and take effective measures to maintain control over the epidemiological situation in a short time. Given the high level of the country’s health care system, a possible increase in mortality may lead to serious criticism from both federal and state authorities.