Waving and a ghetto fist in the Bundestag

Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for

More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.

Shaking strange hands is part of the job of politicians like a sausage to a butcher. But in times of the coronavirus, this can become a health risk. How do the MPs deal with it?

(lv / dpa) - The coronavirus turns some routines upside down. Major events are canceled across the country, and corporate bosses prefer to give their balance sheets by phone. Meanwhile, thousands of people are in the buildings of the Bundestag every day - at the beginning of the session week, MPs arrive from all over Germany. There will be no home office all too soon, personal presence is a must.

Hygiene etiquette for members of parliament

White plastic disinfectant dispensers are attached to stainless steel pillars at the entrances to the Reichstag building. Just at the beginning of the week of the session, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) wrote to the 709 MPs asking them to observe hygiene measures.

Greens: wave or ghetto fist

Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt leaves it up to her party friends how they handle it with the greeting: "Whether we do not greet each other or with a ghetto fist or with a wave or whatever, everyone is free." However, there has not yet been a need to cancel appointments in the Bundestag.

"Personally, I am acting as before," says Amira Mohamed Ali, leader of the Left Party in the Bundestag. But she had already exercised sensible hand hygiene beforehand. Sebastian Hartmann, member of the SPD parliamentary group and chairman of the NRW-SPD, states that he has noticed that many colleagues do not want the handshake these days, but warned against panic.

Lindner: "I don't feel threatened yet"

Keep calm - that also seems to be the motto of the FDP. Its chairman, Christian Lindner, says he "doesn't feel really threatened at the moment". He followed the general advice, such as washing his hands often and sneezing and coughing into the crook of the elbows. "But I don't want to get into panic mode. I believe that the coronavirus is a very serious health risk, but that it will hopefully be manageable in Germany."

The AfD does not refuse to shake hands yet - "so as not to get too much insecure to do a doctorate," says a spokesman.

Union: Shaking hands is canceled

It is different with the Union: "The handshakes are also canceled these weeks," says parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus. The topic is taken seriously. Colleagues and employees are instructed to stay at home in the event of suspicions or uncertainties. Canceling parliamentary group meetings has so far not been an option.

Soon no more visitors in the Bundestag?

Should members of parliament or employees become infected with the virus, the Bundestag administration wants to adhere to the requirements of the Robert Koch Institute and the Infection Protection Act. The Bundestag could therefore be temporarily closed.

According to the Bundestag administration alone, around 2,700 people work in the parliamentary offices. There are 2,500 to 3,000 employees in administration. In addition, there are over 6000 visitors daily who walk through the Bundestag building. Schäuble had also announced in his letter that the roof terrace and dome could be closed to public traffic.

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