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A lockdown is already in place in so-called hotspots, and a large part of the German population believes that a nationwide shutdown of public life before Christmas is unavoidable.
According to a recent survey on behalf of the Stuttgart-based management consultancy Horváth, up to 80 percent of those surveyed assume that the current pandemic will have these consequences.
Various researchers also advocate it.
But not all experts share this opinion: Renowned researchers, including Viola Priesemann, are of the opinion that a lockdown could still be averted.
According to a paper that has now been published, the prerequisites for this are the consistent and increased implementation of protective measures and faster vaccination.
Accordingly, the expert group recommends the following containment measures:
At least two percent of the population should be vaccinated daily, which would mean around
1.5 million vaccinations per day
.
Special capacities for older and vulnerable groups are to be made available.
In the work area,
3G and home office rules should be implemented consistently
, this also reduces contamination in public transport.
Indoor events with more than 50 people
should be
reduced
or suspended.
2G + should be
implemented
in restaurants, bars, clubs, cinemas or sports halls
, and at least 2G outdoors.
The mouth and nose protection must always be worn outside of the office; if the hospitalization rate is high, the number of people should be reduced.
In retail, too, the density of
people is
to be reduced depending on the hospitalization rate.
Schools therefore need a test strategy
, if possible with a pool PCR test.
In addition, it must be consistently ventilated.
Medical mouth and nose protection must also be worn in class.
In the case of high incidences, a reduction in group sizes is also recommended.
In the highly critical federal states such as Saxony (seven-day incidence according to RKI: 1284), however, these measures are not sufficient.
Among other things, the introduction of online lessons or the bringing forward of the winter holidays could be considered as an »ultima ratio«.
Private contacts would also have to be severely restricted.
Creation of an emergency protection switch
With a view to the current situation, the expert group also believes that the legal basis for a kind of emergency protection switch should be created that enables rapid and uniform measures to be taken in the event of an impending overload of the health system. "Precautions like this are urgently required with regard to the new Omikron variant," the statement said. In addition to the bundle of emergency measures, the contact tracing of people with Omikron infection should "currently have absolute priority". Sufficient staff and resources should be made available for this. A systematic genomic record is also necessary.
"Particularly with regard to new virus variants such as Omikron, it is important and necessary that clear action plans exist that can be implemented very quickly in the event of high growth dynamics or if the health system is overloaded," says the strategy paper.
The legal prerequisites for an emergency protection switch must be created as soon as possible.
"The set of rules should be the same for all federal states in order to enable clear communication and planning."
bam / dpa
