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Why the traffic light is currently idling away from the preparation for the Corona autumn

2022-06-19T13:53:08.171Z


The summer wave is here, even higher corona numbers are likely for the fall. In the government, the Greens insist on new measures - but the FDP wants to wait for the expert report at the end of June. That could take revenge.


Enlarge image

Visitors to the Hurricane Festival near Bremen have set up an ironic "test center" with inflated rubber gloves

Photo: Hauke-Christian Dittrich / picture alliance / dpa

Karl Lauterbach warns again.

And gives the all clear at the same time.

Germany is slipping in the middle of a summer wave, the health minister said last Friday.

The highly contagious variant BA.5 is spreading rapidly.

With the increasing number of corona infections, more people are dying again, especially older people.

However: You don't have to "panic," Lauterbach continued.

BA.5 is nowhere near as aggressive as the delta variant once was, and the many vaccinated and recovered people in the country are correspondingly well protected from serious illnesses.

Lauterbach's conclusion: there is no need for any measures now, but there is probably no avoiding a "deplorable" autumn.

The statements by the Minister of Health reflect quite well how the traffic light coalition is currently looking at the risk of corona: everyone knows that the pandemic is still there.

But nobody wants to be the spoilsport who is already talking about restrictions again.

Even Lauterbach hurriedly tried on Friday to rule out a renewed attempt for general vaccination.

»Politicians would be well advised not to be blinded«

If the health policy spokesman for the Greens, Janosch Dahmen, has his way, the government should now act urgently.

The current infection dynamics and the latest assessments by the Expert Council give "everyone in government responsibility enough reason to take forward-looking precautions," he told SPIEGEL on Sunday.

"Politicians would be well advised not to be blinded by the fact that the situation in autumn and winter will remain as mild as in summer."

Dahmen fears that more people will be inside again from the end of September.

At the same time, the last booster vaccination for many Germans was too long ago - a large group of people then came together again, largely unprotected.

"Therefore, a broad-based refresher program is needed over the summer," said Dahmen, especially the elderly and those with previous illnesses should be sent into the fall with fresh immune protection.

"We have to make it clear that the pandemic is not over," said Dahmen.

Above all, the coalition partner FDP is on the brakes.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) has already rejected possible corona restrictions for the summer.

Regulations must be "evidence-based and proportionate," said the FDP politician to the "Rheinische Post".

One can talk about possible measures when the expert report on the evaluation of the measures taken so far is available.

The evaluation report of the Corona Expert Council is intended to take a close look at the successes and failures of the previous pandemic management.

The final report is expected on June 30th.

"It would be nonsense if politicians decided to take protective measures before the non-partisan expert recommendations were available," said FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr to the "Tagesspiegel".

“We cannot decide to restrict fundamental rights for fun and frolics.”

However: The committee should make recommendations for pandemic management, data management and risk communication in the pandemic.

But chairman Stefan Schuster has already dampened expectations in SPIEGEL: "Anyone who expects a list with a plus or minus after all individual measures for 'effective' or 'not effective' will be disappointed," says Schuster.

The Council of Experts will not make any recommendations as to which corona measures politicians should take next autumn.

The data situation is not good enough for a sufficient evaluation of the measures taken so far.

Health expert Dahmen insists on not waiting two weeks for Parliament to bend over new protective measures.

"People have no desire to go into a third autumn for which politicians are not prepared," says the Green politician.

There may be different perspectives on the corona rules among the coalition partners, “but in the end we are all responsible”.

Making oneself dependent on the Council of Experts for the evaluation of the Infection Protection Act discredits the work of science due to the completely exaggerated and absolute expectations of some in politics.

Findings about sensible protective measures have long been available there, not least thanks to the scientific advisory board of traffic lights.

pressure from the economy

Industry and science would also like the government to speed things up.

The President of the Federation of German Industries, Siegfried Russwurm, told the newspapers of the Funke media group that he was “stunned” that politics was once again “open-eyed” in a corona autumn.

There is still no reasonable data.

Incidences would still be collected manually with a time delay.

"The fact that an industrialized nation is still fighting this pandemic in its third year with the means of the early 20th century is really disturbing." It is not a concept to wait until October and then try out different solutions and that's how it is anyway to further exacerbate the tense economic situation.

Frank Ulrich Montgomery, chairman of the World Medical Association, also urged that an action plan for the end of the summer be drawn up as soon as possible.

What is needed is an “instrument box” made up of mandatory masks, contact restrictions and vaccination.

Even if the current Corona regulations only expired in autumn, one could “define the successor regulations now instead of postponing everything to September, as the FDP wants”.

more on the subject

Infections in summer: What has the pandemic done to our immune system? By Marthe Ruddat

The government has to cover several construction sites for the fall: will there continue to be free citizen tests?

Should people be made to wear masks indoors again?

When will who be vaccinated again?

And: Which instruments will the Infection Protection Act need from autumn?

The question about the tests is the most pressing.

From July, the federal government will no longer subsidize the citizen test centers, and there has already been a massive decrease in wiping the nose in many places.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has been warning for a long time that there are hardly any reliable infection numbers.

It is unclear whether it is absolutely necessary to continue testing over the summer.

But a decision must be made by autumn at the latest: Knowing how strong the virus is rampant can then be essential.

»Unfortunately, it is not the case that the virus remains static«

The traffic light parties are currently unanimously rejecting a mask requirement in summer.

Even Lauterbach recently weighed it down.

"At the moment, the data does not indicate that this can be made mandatory," said the Minister of Health on Friday.

However, Lauterbach hopes that many people will voluntarily wear mouth and nose protection indoors again.

Lauterbach and Dahmen are pushing for the vaccination campaign to start up again sooner.

Hoping that an infection in the summer wave will protect you reliably and comprehensively enough to be well prepared for the fall is not enough, says Dahmen.

"Unfortunately, the virus does not remain static." People who only recovered in the winter after the BA.2 omicron variant would now become infected again - with the mutated successor variant BA.5.

From Dahmen's point of view, many people under the age of 70 cannot avoid a current, fourth vaccination - "it probably protects more broadly and more sustainably than a vaccination from a long time ago or an older omicron infection".

Finally, there is the question of how a new infection protection law can prepare Germany for the fall.

The current law expires on September 23. Apart from the hotspot rule, it hardly offers the countries the opportunity to take tough and short-term action.

Experts agree that the current law will not be enough to get through the fall and winter well.

But there is little time left for revision.

If the traffic light is actually waiting for the report of the Council of Experts at the end of June, there are only 14 days left in the parliamentary calendar before September 23 to debate a new infection protection law.

Unlike the coronavirus, MPs have a summer break for most of July and August.

with material from dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-06-19

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