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Anger at the Federal Interior Ministry: One speaker was banned from conducting official business after giving his opinion in an 83-page document on what he considered the government’s senseless measures against the coronavirus. The problem: I had used the Ministry letterhead for this.
The employee had already been released from his job over the weekend. Now he faces disciplinary proceedings. It is unclear what led to the high-level government of the “Critical Infrastructure Protection” unit. For his job, the employee asked researchers and doctors about his evaluations of the negative consequences of the crown measures. One of the respondents told Tagesspiegel that they had assumed that the BMI staff member’s request was within their area of responsibility and that they were producing the document within the scope of their responsibilities.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said at a press conference on Wednesday that the employee probably would not have received the investigators’ assessment if he had not asked in his role as an IMC employee. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry emphasized that he had made sure that “such misleading information to the public is no longer possible initially.”
The employee in question is a member of the SPD. He even tried to run for the party leadership. But now, whether you like it or not, it’s becoming the key word for conspiracy theorists who assume the state is dealing with sinister machinations in the crown crisis. The magazine “Tichys insight”, close to right-wing populism, has published 83 pages and exploits them.
Serious accusations against the federal government
In the document, the speaker states that “there can be no more reasonable doubt that the corona warning was a false alarm.” The state “failed almost grotesquely” in the crown crisis.
He spoke of “scaremongering” and said that government protection measures are killing more people than the virus. Portal chief Roland Tichy praises the newspaper as “a disappearance of previous policy.”
Commentators riot against the government
This was “fueled by horror images such as the removal of coffins in Bergamo, Italy.” The humor generator works. Readers of the “Tichy vision” feel compelled to make inflammatory comments. One writes: “How can it be that countless prosecutors remain idle for weeks in detention while an entire nation is mired in misfortune by open government corruption and knocks completely against the wall?” Another suspects that Bill Gates bribed German prosecutors.
The way the newspaper got to “Tichy’s Vision” is open. The superior council of the government had sent it from the official account to the authorities. According to the Ministry, the man was not the only author, there is talk of “third party participation” outside the IMC. It is emphasized that the speaker was not responsible for managing the crown crisis. The newspaper did not correspond in any way with the positions of the federal government and “was a private opinion,” the ministry said Sunday.
Scientists and doctors whom the employee asked reacted Monday with strong criticism of the BMI. One of the respondents published the letter on the online portal “Axis of Good”, among other things. The researchers write that they note the BMI’s response “in amazement.”
Drosten criticizes submissions from unskilled researchers
The scientists who signed the BMI response include ten doctors and researchers, some of whom are retired. Among others is Peter Schirmacher, professor of pathology at the University of Heidelberg and member of the Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences. This is very delicate, because Leopoldin is one of the most important scientific advisory bodies of the German government in the crown crisis. However, virologists are not among the signatories.
Signatories and consultants to the document also include Gunter Frank, general practitioner and member of the standing guidelines commission of the German Society for Family Medicine and General Medicine (DEGAM) in Heidelberg. He has published the open letter of the researchers on the portal “achgut.com”.
In the conversation, he admits: “Certainly, the tone and terminology of the document can be optimized in some places.” However, he describes the ministry’s reaction as a “diversion maneuver” negative consequences of the crown measures we have. ” He criticizes that the IMC so far has not been concerned enough about the consequences of the blockade, for example.
Before the employee asked, there was no contact with him, Frank explains. “He probably found the experts in the respective field and then asked. And in turn they used their professional networks,” he explains. Frank doesn’t want to be understood as a “crown denier.” “Covid-19 is an absolutely dangerous disease, especially for at-risk groups. But its threat to society is somewhat overestimated.”
But the problem is: Really well-founded research on the side effects of crown measures is rare, as research by Tagesspiegel recently showed. It is indisputable that, for example, treatments for serious diseases can sometimes be delayed and that this has negative consequences for the health of those affected. How big are they? Currently, no one can exactly quantify that. The same applies to the consequences of the pandemic on the psyche or the consequences of the economic recession on health.
In his current podcast, Charité virologist Christian Drosten had harshly criticized the contribution of non-specialist researchers in the crown crisis. What he hears, in part from “apparent experts” whose expertise resides in other areas, is often unfounded, the virologist said. This will also strengthen the “really dangerous conspiracy theorists” with a political agenda. Drosten criticized that as “irresponsible”.
Editor’s Note: This article was added on May 13.
