Imminent Rollout of the New Initiative in Coming Years:

In the face of rising COVID-19 infections and the mounting challenges for various industries, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in North Rhine-Westphalia has called for immediate action.

Prevention of COVID-19 requires a comprehensive testing infrastructure, and the SPD emphasises the need for an immediate testing summit, with employers also participating, to discuss and implement an effective testing strategy. This strategy involves the involvement of occupational physicians in North Rhine-Westphalia and rapid tests.

The restrictions to contain Corona are heavily affecting the gastronomy and event industries. In response, the SPD demands a financial aid program of €290 million for the gastronomy industry and €525 million for the event industry from the state's Corona rescue umbrella. Parent associations and the SPD city parliamentarians' group share this demand.

To address the challenges in the education sector, the SPD calls for an education summit in North Rhine-Westphalia. If the state government does not organise this summit, the SPD has pledged to do so themselves. Sonja Bongers, Chair of the SPD City Council Fraction and a Member of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament, will lead the SPD's efforts for an education summit. Nina Breuer will represent the SPD city parliamentarians' group in this endeavour.

The state government has promised the health departments around 800 temporary positions for relief. However, the SPD insists that after the necessary parliamentary vote on these new positions, the state must immediately launch a job offensive for the additional staff required to tackle the ongoing crisis.

In addition, a new traffic light system is being implemented, but further details were not provided in this context.

Fewer and fewer people are accepting the necessary restrictions, and the SPD urges the public to comply with the measures to curb the spread of the virus. The state government's actions and the SPD's initiatives aim to provide much-needed support to the affected industries and ensure a sustainable school concept for the children of North Rhine-Westphalia.