Angela Merkel has her hands full in the corona pandemic.
The Chancellor gets expertise from a physicist - but his demands were apparently partly "not taken seriously".
Corona infections are increasing rapidly in Germany.
Angela Merkel called the prime ministers to an emergency meeting.
During the negotiations, the Chancellor trusted a physicist.
The day after, Professor Michael Meyer-Hermann expressed great concern in a ZDF interview.
Update from October 16, 2020
: In a
ZDF interview
, the
mathematician and physicist Michael Meyer-Hermann
once again expressly expressed his concerns.
"We are seeing signs that the virus is currently spreading uncontrollably," he said.
It is possible that many asymptomatically infected people are already out and about in public because many health authorities can no longer keep up with the recording of the infected and the follow-up of contacts.
At a certain point, the exponential growth can no longer be stopped.
And already now one can see sharp increases in the occupancy of
intensive care beds
and the number of deaths.
"We don't need small improvements, we need a big rethink," he said.
And with a view to the talks between the Chancellor and the Prime Minister: "That did not happen in the form." The politicians would have understood that "this is now about the sausage", but not taken the necessary measures.
Meyer-Hermann
concludes from this
: "We probably have to do more in the population than the
measures are
now."
And then he looks ahead ". The infection process the next ten days is already set, the numbers will continue to go up" Whether one then a
flattening
could see - that lie on the behavior of the population.
“If we
want to prevent
a
lockdown
, then we all have to stick together now and protect each other.” His appeal: “We shouldn't necessarily have smaller celebrations now, and everyone who doesn't necessarily have to travel should just go home stay."
After a sharp increase in the number of infections: Merkel and the prime ministers advise personally
First report from October 15, 2020
: Berlin - The number of
corona infections is
rising sharply in Germany.
The federal and state governments have now adopted stricter measures and cuts in regions with many new infections.
"It is and will hopefully remain a challenge of the century," said Chancellor
Angela Merkel
after the Corona negotiation marathon, expressing her view of the dimension and scope of the
Corona resolutions passed
in Berlin
.
The Chancellor and Prime Minister met from 2 p.m. to after 10 p.m., struggling to reach agreement on various rules.
The Chancellor and the Prime Ministers met again in person for the first time since June and discussed not only via
video conference
.
But Merkel does not go far enough.
Probably also because she fears that not even these could be implemented by different countries.
"I'm not satisfied: the results are not hard enough
for us to ward off disaster,"
she is said to have said at around 9 p.m., according to
Bild
information in the meeting.
And: “Then we'll be back here in two weeks.
It's just not enough what we're doing here.
The basic mood is that everyone looks for a little loophole.
That's what worries me.
And the list of health authorities that don't make it is getting longer. "
Merkel relies on Corona consultants
Not only the Chancellor and the 16 country leaders were represented at the negotiation marathon in the Chancellery.
A scientist, whom Angela Merkel is very fond of, received a lot of attention.
The
physicist Michael Meyer-Hermann
is professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig and head of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research.
There he explores the possibilities of understanding the immune system with the help of mathematics.
Merkel is a physicist herself.
Michael Meyer-Hermann advises politics on #Corona.
The Braunschweig researcher works interdisciplinary between physics, biology and mathematics.
Some time ago we portrayed him ➡️ https://t.co/W6LWVNUTSL @Helmholtz_HZI # COVID19 (hk) pic.twitter.com/dDtRc4vSJE
- Helmholtz (@helmholtz_de) October 15, 2020
Meyer-Hermann
published
a
study
on the corona pandemic in collaboration with the Ifo Institute in May
.
"If politics allows more economic activity in the short term, the phase of the restrictions is extended so much, according to our simulation analyzes, that the total costs rise," says the study.
"It's not five to twelve, but twelve to turn the ship," said Michael Meyer-Hermann on Wednesday.
Meyer-Hermann warns of easing and calls for a travel ban
The physicist is not a fan of loosening and warns of a strong growth in new infections.
For Meyer-Hermann,
mask requirements
and
fines are
very important.
You don't even have to discuss major events.
"Immediate
uniform action
in Germany is necessary," he said.
The 53-year-old has very clear ideas: "The strategy of prudent easing is not only preferable in terms of health policy, but also economically."
In addition, he considers a
travel ban from risk areas
to be sensible.
The majority of ministers did not listen to this suggestion.
"Nobody took the demand for travel bans seriously,"
a minister is said to have
said, according to
Bild
information.
(
ck
)