The southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg has said it will consider imposing tougher restrictions on unvaccinated people, should the number of people in intensive care in hospitals rise above a preset limit. 

Baden-Württemberg may impose 2G if intensive care beds fill up

“If 200 to 250 intensive care beds are occupied, we will consider introducing contact restrictions for unvaccinated adults,” said Uwe Lahl, head of Baden-Württemberg’s Ministry of Social Affairs, to Bild am Sonntag, adding that the restrictions could be similar to those introduced under Germany’s last national lockdown, which saw families only being allowed to meet with the members of one other family. 

Should the number of intensive care patients infected with COVID-19 rise above 300, the southwestern federal state would then move to impose the so-called “2G rule”, a tougher version of the 3G rules already in place nationwide that restricts certain public spaces to vaccinated or recovered people only. That is: unvaccinated people would not be able, for example, to visit a restaurant or see a play at a theatre. 

90 percent of intensive care patients in Germany unvaccinated

Earlier this month, Hamburg became the first federal state in Germany to introduce a 2G “option model” that allowed event organisers and business owners to opt to admit vaccinated and recovered patrons only. 

Now it seems the idea is gathering support from other figures across Germany, with Lahl saying that Thomas Stroble, Minister of the Interior for Baden-Württemberg, is also in favour of tougher restrictions for the unvaccinated. In neighbouring Bavaria, Health Minister Klaus Holetscheck also reportedly supports the idea of introducing contact restrictions to “protect the healthcare system”, according to Bild. 

Currently, there are around 100 patients with coronavirus being treated in intensive care in Baden-Württemberg. Bild writes that that could increase to 200 within the space of a week. At the peak of the second and third waves of coronavirus in the spring and autumn, more than 600 patients were treated in Baden-Württemberg alone. 

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn said last week that more than 90 percent of coronavirus patients in intensive care units in Germany were completely unvaccinated.