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For the time being, Christian Drosten will no longer explain the corona virus every two weeks in the NDR podcast
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
With his NDR podcast, virologist Christian Drosten informed millions of people about the consequences of the corona virus and the developments in the corona pandemic.
For the time being, there was the last regular episode with Drosten, as the Charité virologist announced in the podcast, after all he was not interested in "starting a media career," as he said.
However, the decision is primarily related to the easing of the situation surrounding the milder Omicron variant.
But: "If the assessment is that it will be difficult again, then I would definitely get back on board."
With Omikron, things "went very lightly," said Drosten at the end of the issue.
“I believe the next update update will come sometime during the second quarter.
(...) There isn't much more to say until then, and I don't see that being a reason to continue to extend the podcast."
Drosten had previously said that despite the falling number of infections in Germany, he assumed that the omicron variant of the virus could also be infected in the summer.
On the one hand, the current vaccination progress is not sufficient, on the other hand, the infection activity through Omikron is still high.
"That's why I'm assuming there won't be an infection-free summer."
According to Drosten, masks are also advisable in summer
Drosten pointed out that in South Africa, for example, the omicron wave had risen steeply in midsummer.
He doesn't assume that an "untamed" wave will be seen in Germany in the summer, but "one will also be able to get infected with this omicron virus in the summer".
Accordingly, he also thinks it is advisable to continue wearing masks indoors in summer.
In particular, wearing FFP2 masks indoors is “the most efficient measure of all” in the long term.
With a view to temperatures falling again over the course of the year, Drosten expressed the assessment that there would be another winter wave.
He hopes that this will not be accompanied by a serious burden of illness in the population, but the risk of large-scale work absences will continue to exist.
“The pandemic is not only over when the severity of the disease has been cut off by vaccination, but also when this high level of transmissibility has ended as a result of certain modifications in the population,” said Drosten, who alternates with the NDR’s “Coronavirus Update” every two weeks the virologist Sandra Ciesek explained the virus.
hba/dpa