Merkel’s heir to call for more obligatory virus tests

Armin Laschet is pushing measures to slow a renewed spread of the coronavirus in Germany and bolster his image as a crisis manager as the front-runner to succeed Angela Merkel falters.

With less than seven weeks before the national election and his poll numbers slipping, Laschet will call for more obligatory tests for unvaccinated people at a meeting between Merkel and state leaders on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The plan, presented on Monday at a closed-door meeting of the Christian Democratic party (CDU), is aimed at protecting privileges for people who have been immunised against Covid-19, while providing greater incentives to get the shots, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations were confidential.

Laschet, the chair of Merkel’s CDU, is under pressure to regain the initiative after a rocky several weeks hit the conservative bloc’s support. Its lead over the Greens has shrunk to as little as two percentage points in one survey.

Under Laschet’s plan, the government would stop free testing in October. By that time, everyone who wanted to be inoculated would have had the opportunity, according to the proposal, which was supported by other CDU leaders, including health minister Jens Spahn, the party official said.

The initiative is likely to encounter resistance, as a number of Social Democratic Party (SPD) state leaders oppose the end of free testing. A failure of Laschet’s push would be another blow and raise fresh doubts about his leadership abilities after a series of blunders.

Last Wednesday, the 60-year-old premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most-populous state, postponed the official start of his campaign to deal with the aftermath of floods that hit his region last month. He was pilloried for chuckling on camera amid the wreckage. He later apologised, but the incident sparked a slide in the polls.

Merkel and state officials are expected to discuss the cost of the flooding damage at the meeting. Germany’s federal and regional governments are looking to allocate €30bn to help pay for reconstruction from the disaster, according to a person familiar with the plan.

Merkel’s conservatives are determined to avoid another lockdown, which could cost the German economy about €10bn, according to an estimate from the Cologne-based IW economic institute.

To keep businesses running, the party will focus on speeding up vaccinations, obligatory testing and enforcing distancing and hygiene rules, Paul Ziemiak, the CDU’s general secretary, said.

“We’re taking the Delta variant very seriously,” Ziemiak said. People who are fully vaccinated will be exempt from testing requirements and those who aren’t inoculated will have to pay for their own tests. Vaccinated people shouldn’t have any disadvantages because others are too lazy to get inoculated.”

Bloomberg News. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com