The emergency brake had to be pulled automatically nationwide if the so-called seven-day incidence exceeded 100 over several days. The planned traffic light coalition said that the Karlsruhe decisions should be awaited before a possible tightening of the Corona course.

However, the discussion of the Länder with Merkel/Scholz is not intended to replace the format of the Minister Presidents' Conference. The official reason is that Merkel and Scholz are informing the heads of the Länder about the new Corona crisis team in the Chancellery, in which the Länder are also to be represented (see text below). That is why there is no talk of a conference of state premiers, according to government sources. This has so far been planned for December 9 - by which time Scholz would in all likelihood have already been elected Chancellor by the Bundestag.

Variant Omicron: The head of virology at Berlin's Charité hospital, Christian Drosten, said about Omicron on Sunday: "No one can say at the moment what is in store for us". He added: "The only thing you can really say for sure, it's better if you're vaccinated. It's even better if you're boosted."

Meanwhile, Mainz-based vaccine manufacturer Biontech says it is working on developing a vaccine adapted for it - as a precautionary measure in case it might be needed - alongside ongoing laboratory tests to investigate the new Corona variant Omicron. "In order not to lose time, we are tackling these two tasks in parallel until the data is available and we have more information on whether the vaccine should be adapted or not," a Biontech spokeswoman said on Monday.

Crisis team: The new Corona crisis team planned by the SPD, Greens and FDP is to start "as soon as possible", according to the managing federal government. Merkel and Scholz are in very close contact about the appointment and the terms of reference, as government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said in Berlin.

Possible lockdown: Nothing is known for sure (yet). However, SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach already announced that the traffic light party wants to tighten the Corona measures. There will be corresponding proposals "this week". In view of high infection rates, Lauterbach believes that the closure of bars, clubs and discotheques is unavoidable. In addition, there will probably be a mandatory mask requirement at schools as well as further restrictions for the unvaccinated. The background to the tightening is also the new Omicron variant of the virus, which, according to Lauterbach, comes "at an inopportune time". There is nothing worse than getting a more dangerous mutation during a severe wave of infection.

Because of the worsening Corona situation, Saarland, for example, has already announced far-reaching 2G-plus regulations and severe contact restrictions for the unvaccinated. Even vaccinated and recovered people will have to present a Coronal test in future when visiting indoor catering facilities, indoor sports and services close to the body, among other things.

Vaccinations: The Standing Commission on Vaccination (Stiko) presented its scientific rationale on booster vaccinations for all adults and made a strong call for vaccination for the unvaccinated. The number of Covid 19 hospital admissions is 5 to 15 times higher among them than among vaccinated people, depending on age and region, the paper published on Monday concludes. The number of unvaccinated adults in Germany is put at around 15 million. This contributes significantly to the fourth wave and the high number of Covid 19 patients in hospitals. Regarding the vaccination interval, it is said that this should "as a rule" be six months. Shorter intervals in general do not seem feasible due to current limited vaccination capacities. (Original text: ga/dpa / Translation: Mareike Graepel)