Corona measures: Why it is a good sign that Lothar Wieler and Karl Lauterbach contradict each other

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Karl Lauterbach and Lothar Wieler on December 16

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FILIP SINGER / EPA

"It is cynical to wait too long." These words come from Lothar Wieler, President of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and refer to the overload in intensive care units and the threat of triage. Wieler said this sentence in April of this year on the program »Jung und Naiv«, but it could also be the headline for how the RKI assesses the pandemic situation shortly before Christmas and in the coming weeks of 2022 in Germany.

Shortly before the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK) on Tuesday, the RKI took a clear position: From now on - and not just after Christmas - it is important to limit all contacts as much as possible, to avoid unnecessary trips, to as quickly and as many people as possible vaccinate and take "maximum infection-preventive measures".

The demand contradicted the line that was laid down by the MPK a few hours later, but was already known in advance: Slightly stricter measures will only be in place from December 28th - but by far not to the extent that Wieler and the RKI are necessary keep.

#TankeRKI is trending

Wieler's superior, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, was disconcerted that the statement had "not been voted on". Lauterbach, who had warned about Corona at least as clearly and loudly as Wieler before moving into the Ministry of Health and warned him to be cautious, shortly beforehand categorically refused a lockdown before Christmas via »Bild«. He later emphasized that there was no censorship in his house when it came to scientific work. But Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz also criticized the RKI initiative and CSU boss Markus Söder was even "extremely irritated".

It would have been extremely irritating, however, if Wieler had either not expressed his opinion at all or only after the MPK.

As the head of the RKI, it is simply his job to not only assess health risks for the population on the basis of scientific data, but also to avert these risks as well as possible.

At this point, the institute has lived up to the responsibility entrusted to it.

Hashtags like #DankeWieler and #DankeRKI are trending on Twitter.

Because Wieler and the RKI are not obliged to one party, but to science.

This distinguishes him significantly from Lauterbach, who has been more cautious since he took office and - now seems to shy away from unpopular decisions himself - the unpopular decisions he had previously warned about.

Nor does Wieler have to ask his new boss for permission before giving his opinion.

Of course, different recommendations can be confusing: Why does a federal authority demand immediate action, but politicians think it is okay to wait and see?

Allegedly, the latter is based on the newly established Expert Council, to which Wieler himself belongs, although the document of the 19 Corona Wise Men of December 19 says: "The scenario described means that there is a need for action for the coming days."

"So far not seen dynamics"

But society has to endure this contradiction.

And above all, those politicians who are currently failing to act as quickly as possible and are responsible for the course of the corona pandemic in Germany, which will soon be dominated by the Omikron variant, have to listen to it.

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Because even if we don't know Omikron exactly for a long time, it is enough to take a look at our neighboring countries to foresee what is threatening in this country as well: a steep rise in infections that will mainly affect people who have not been vaccinated, but also people who have been vaccinated twice and - according to the current data, a lot less often - boosted.

The expert council estimates that the number of people infected will double every two to four days.

According to Wieler, it will be a wave "of a dynamic that has not been seen before."

How the infections will progress is still uncertain.

What is clear, however, is that the nurses and clinics, who are already strained, will again reach their capacity limits.

And even the critical infrastructure such as the police, fire brigade, rescue services, hospitals, water and power supply could be in danger if the workforce fell ill or had to go into quarantine.

Decision of the heart?

While Germany's Prime Minister reached an agreement with Kanlzer Scholz on Tuesday that stricter measures in this country should not apply until December 28, the virologist Sandra Ciesek said on the NDR podcast: "Every day counts."

Scientists have said this several times. And politics hesitated, hesitated, gambled several times and let days, sometimes weeks, pass by. Always with the result that lockdowns came with even greater force, which one could actually have avoided. It should be the same this time, because a lost week in the fight against Omikron will lead to the wave building up all the more, instead of keeping it in check in the early stages and continuing to counter it with vaccinations. Lothar Wieler therefore stated on Wednesday at a joint press conference with Lauterbach: “We are appealing to each individual to reduce their contacts as much as possible. It depends a lot on how each and every one of them behaves. "

Because politics once again does not dare to take stricter measures in time, it is transferring responsibility to the population.

This should protect the coalition peace, the economy in the run-up to Christmas and trips or celebrations that have already been planned.

You could almost call it cynical.

Because how much closer the decision of the heart is than that of the mind, everyone knows who now has to answer for himself whether he is canceling a Christmas party together.