According to the state's Corona Ordinance, districts that remain significantly above a value of 100 despite the emergency brake must consider night-time curfews. In a letter, the Ministry of Social Affairs has also instructed the district councils to use this necessary measure from an incidence of 150. In the districts of Ludwigsburg, Esslingen, Göppingen, Ostalbkreis and Rems-Murr-Kreis, night-time curfews from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. will apply from Wednesday due to the continued high incidence of infection.
The updated Corona Ordinance stipulates that staying outside the home or other accommodation from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. the following day is only permitted if there are valid reasons - if the public health department also determines that there is a significant risk to the effective containment of the spread of the coronavirus, taking into account all other protective measures taken to date.
According to the Baden-Württemberg State Health Office, the so-called 7-day incidence in the district of Ludwigsburg is currently 148.5 infected persons per 100,000 inhabitants (as at: 11.04.2021, 16:00). The new infections are predominantly the particularly contagious and dangerous so-called British variant B.1.1.7 of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
In addition, the incidence of infection is becoming increasingly diffuse and the chains of infection are sometimes no longer traceable. Without further protective measures, it is therefore to be feared that the number of infections in the Ludwigsburg district will continue to rise sharply and that the healthcare system will be overburdened as a result.
The district councils concerned in the region did not take this difficult decision lightly. After all, curfews are a considerable encroachment on citizens' freedom of movement. They deliberately focused not only on the incidence, but also on the overall pandemic situation in the respective district: some intensive care units in the hospitals are currently experiencing a significant increase in the number of patients, who are also getting younger and younger. The vaccination campaign is also still progressing far too slowly to have an impact on the incidence of infection. In addition, the Easter vacations and school closures have not yet brought the hoped-for easing of infection figures. In addition, schools are due to start alternating lessons next week. This joint effort is therefore necessary in the region in order to overcome the third wave, according to the district councillors.
Background to the 150 threshold:
With the other thresholds set out in the Corona Ordinance - 50 and 100 - it was always the case that this had to be exceeded for three consecutive days in order to justify stricter rules. In contrast, there are no clear requirements for the 150 threshold.
