RKI boss is pushing for a new infection protection law: Lauterbach is already preparing it, Montgomery wants more
Created: 05/28/2022, 09:00
By: Julia Volkenand
RKI boss Wieler is pushing for a new infection protection law.
You shouldn't take too much time, he emphasizes.
Munich – The corona measures have largely fallen, for many Germans it is the first summer that has hardly been dominated by restrictions since the pandemic began.
But the danger has not yet been averted, virologists and politicians emphasize again and again.
Not only is the corona virus still in circulation, the risk of new viruses is also increasing, according to RKI boss Lothar Wieler in an interview with
Bayerischer Rundfunk.
Climate change, overpopulation and the encroachment of humans into the habitats of various animal species are to blame.
In this way, viruses that were previously very limited or even unknown can spread rapidly.
The RKI boss demanded that politicians deal with the threat urgently.
The development of a new infection protection law is urgently needed.
Corona wave in autumn: RKI boss Wieler wants a new infection protection law quickly
Lothar Wieler (left) and Karl Lauterbach are preparing for a possible corona wave in autumn.
© dpa/Sina Schuldt
Wieler fears another wave of corona in the fall, an opinion he shares with many experts.
"I would almost say that all scientists who deal with this pandemic really seriously and well-founded, i.e. with specialist knowledge, assume that the numbers will rise again in autumn," he emphasized.
Karl Lauterbach is also already talking about a new mask requirement in order to be able to quickly stop an autumn wave if necessary.
The Minister of Health would like to be able to protect the population by wearing masks, especially indoors.
Accordingly, a new infection protection law is currently being worked on, the SPD politician reported to Markus Lanz.
Corona cases: Lauterbach also fears an increase after the summer
Because the current one expires on September 23, after that you have to create new opportunities.
The health ministers of the federal states also recently pushed for preparatory measures for a possible autumn wave.
"We must not be fooled by the currently declining incidences," emphasized Petra Grimm-Benne, Chair of the Conference of Health Ministers from Saxony-Anhalt, in mid-May after a video link with Lauterbach.
The only open question is which disease the virus will trigger in the fall, explained Wieler.
Nevertheless, he could imagine lifting the measures completely by autumn, according to the
BR
.
You now have the tools to deal with the pandemic, but in the end it all depends on which virus variant is then in circulation.
Anti-corona plan including the possibility of lockdowns: worries with a view to autumn
World Medical Director Ulrich Montgomery is also concerned about the fall.
He called for even tougher measures than Lauterbach.
Montgomery would like to see an anti-corona plan implemented, including the possibility of lockdowns.
He told the
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
: “Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) must adapt the Infection Protection Act so that containment measures can be introduced when the situation becomes serious, and uniformly nationwide.” In many parts of the world, the number of corona infections is already increasing Montgomery fears that this will also be unavoidable in Germany when temperatures drop again.
(jv
)