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A mask on a school desk
Photo: Michael Weber / imago images/Michael Weber
The experts of the expert committee appointed by the federal government have evaluated the measures to contain the pandemic in part critically.
The report is available to SPIEGEL.
On a total of 165 pages, the experts explain the extent to which the restrictions imposed by the federal government were effective from their point of view.
In their evaluation, they come to the conclusion that risk communication was poorly used in Germany and that the information campaign could have been designed better.
The effect of masks to protect against transmission is only given if people put them on correctly, the experts write.
In the future, therefore, more information should be provided about the correct wearing of FFP2 masks.
Indoor use of FFP2 masks is only recommended for indoor and risk settings.
However, a general recommendation to wear FFP2 masks cannot be derived from the data so far.
According to the panel, the lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic was said to have been effective, but the effect was no longer there in a later phase of the pandemic.
According to the report, the same applies to contact tracing.
In relation to the call to stay at home, however, this made more sense.
The exact effectiveness of school closures in containing the spread of the coronavirus is still open, despite numerous studies.
The report also criticizes the lack of digitization of the infection recording.
The report had been urgently awaited by the traffic light coalition.
The FDP had made it a condition for talks about a new infection protection law for the fall.
The current Infection Protection Act expires at the end of September.
Most recently, the completion of the report, which should have been published on June 30, was delayed.
In the run-up, the head of the Advisory Council, Stefan Huster, had already dampened expectations of the report.
"Anyone who expects a list with a plus or a minus after all individual measures for 'effective' or 'not effective' will be disappointed," Huster told SPIEGEL.
»Our perspective is more fundamental and considers the structures in terms of good preparation for a pandemic.«
Mfh
