Corona: “Saturday Is a Crucial Day”
DER SPIEGEL: How long can these kinds of restrictions be kept up? Are you concerned that the number of incidents of domestic violence could rise?
Braun: When people’s freedom of movement is limited, it is a psychological burden. That can also have consequences. It is extremely valuable when a nuclear family are able to step outside together, as long as they keep their distance from others. That’s another reason we didn’t immediately implement all of the measures under consideration.
DER SPIEGEL: What freedoms do you miss, personally?
Braun: Weekend activities with friends and acquaintances. In-person encounters can’t be replaced by phone conversations.
DER SPIEGEL: Germany has implemented inspections at some of its borders. Do we still need them if the EU’s external borders are closed?
Braun: If I tell Germans they cannot take any vacations inside the country, and that they should refrain from leisure activities, then I also need to ensure that people aren’t able to come in from outside and do precisely those things.
DER SPIEGEL: The government wants to mitigate the impending economic crisis through so-called short-time work, in which employers cut their employees’ working hours while the government pays for a portion of the salary shortfall and for the social-insurance contributions usually paid for by the employer. It has provided fiscal liquidity support, by offering grants and loans to businesses, and ample credit. Doesn’t the state need to act more aggressively, for example by nationalizing companies?
Braun: At the moment, we are not ruling out any instrument. We, of course, see that the airline industry is experiencing considerable losses. With the liquidity support and the short-time work funds, we have already implemented two central measures. We are currently working on funds from which small companies, for whom the other forms of aid are not useful, can receive subsidies. But we also need to state clearly: In a crisis of this size, we can try to mitigate the broad effects. But the state cannot offset this crisis on its own.
DER SPIEGEL: What, concretely, do you expect from the business world?