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Lots of people in a small space, dancing, hugs, without protective masks and a lot of alcohol in addition: ideal conditions for the spread of the coronavirus. A recent study of strong beer festivals, which took place in Bavaria in March, shows the consequences this can have. The results cast a bad light on the Bavarian state government’s decision by Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) not to ban early spring celebrations in light of the corona pandemic.
The Helmholtz Center in Munich has examined the effect of the celebrations, with a clear result: “Significantly more cases” have been recorded by both strong beer festivals and local elections in Bavaria, writes Matthias Wjst, an expert on lung diseases, in the most recent journal “Deutsche Study published by Medical Weekly.”
“Söder should have instructed the district offices in early March to cancel the strong beer festivals.”
He assumes an extrapolation of around 1,200 direct Covid-19 infections through festivals. “The effect was particularly large in counties with two or more beer festivals,” says Wjst. Many visitors spread the virus vigorously; according to Wjst, the result was several thousand people infected. Around 3,700 infections are also due to the Bavarian local elections in mid-March.
In early March, Bavarian Economic Affairs Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) told an event with several hundred participants that strong beer festivals were “the natural enemy of the corona virus.” These festivals were held until mid-March. It wasn’t until March 17 that the Free State imposed a ban on events, and from March 21 there were exit restrictions nationwide.
“Söder should have instructed the district offices in early March to cancel the strong beer festival,” says Ludwig Hartmann, chairman of the Greenland parliamentary group. The Prime Minister “should not have left the local population alone with this difficult decision.”
