Shortly before "Freedom Day": Drosten railed against "corona relativism" and spoke of "sabotage"
Created: 03/30/2022, 20:55
By: Magdalena von Zumbusch
Christian Drosten is annoyed about new corona trivializations recently (archive image).
© Fabrizio Bensch/dpa
In Germany, almost all corona rules will fall in a timely manner.
That also brings pandemic downplayers onto the scene, fears Drosten and speaks of “sabotage”.
Berlin - The masks are falling and the 2G rules are bursting in large parts of Germany - after long discussions also in Bavaria.
He "doesn't have a totally perfect feeling about it," said Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) on the sidelines of an event in Munich.
Nevertheless, in the end he decided against issuing hotspot rules for all of Bavaria.
This means that the following applies throughout Germany: Most of the Corona rules will expire on April 2nd.
A side effect of all this: The step also calls people who downplay the virus onto the scene again.
This is a thorn in the side of the virologist Christian Drosten.
On Twitter, he refers to the article by epidemiologist Dr.
William Hanage, who wrote an op-ed for
The Guardian
newspaper .
In this, Hanage condemns corona trivialization as “sabotage”.
Drosten criticizes corona trivialization as "sabotage": And the "Freedom Day"?
His tweet coincides with the nationwide rule issued by the traffic light coalition at the urging of the FDP from Saturday (April 2) that the states can only order a mask requirement in local public transport and in clinics.
Christian Drosten resolutely opposes the trivialization of the corona virus and on his Twitter account advocates naming the trivializing voices for what he believes they are: the "sabotage" of an effective pandemic strategy.
"Corona Minimisers": Drosten jumps to the side of British scientists
In his contribution, Hanage explains that he does not understand the stubbornness of the so-called "corona minimisers", i.e. people who downplay the pandemic.
After two lockdowns, a huge strain on healthcare and finally an extremely fast and effective vaccination campaign, Britain has still claimed over 160,000 lives from the pandemic, Hanage points out at the beginning of his
Guardian
article .
"Corona relativism": Drosten expresses himself via Twitter
Corona: Drosten rants about “blind influenza comparisons” before measures are taken
“Herd immunity” has not yet driven the virus out of the population.
And the idea of “targeted protection” for vulnerable groups is unrealistic, Hanage said.
Compliance with protective measures is therefore still the only strategy that promises success.
Drosten summarizes the serious damage that the "sabotage" of the corona measures can cause in his Twitter post.
Angered, he lets out "blind influenza comparisons," too early suggestions to "learn to live with the virus," and the "Great Barrington argument" (The
American Institute for Economic Research
's October 2020 Great Barrington document recommends "Targeted protection" of risk groups as part of the corona pandemic).
Have Corona relativizers hindered a sustainable strategy?
Getting into renewed discussions with people who downplay the corona virus makes no sense, says Hanage in his contribution.
That is exactly what some actors intend: “Distraction has always been the goal of such revisionism,” is Hanage’s assessment.
Ultimately, these arguments would often have seriously hampered the possibility of pursuing a sustainable strategy against the virus.
The current course in Germany, which Bavaria is now also following, is based on prioritizing the economy and "life" before protective measures against Corona, while in Bavaria there are more patients in the hospitals than ever before.