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There were not many days without Jens Spahn this year: the Minister of Health is permanently present thanks to Corona. In the morning he reports the start of vaccination. Through a crisis manager who learned something new during the crisis.
By Angela Tesch, ARD capital studio
The fact that he can become popular as a health minister in Germany is new. That has probably never happened before. at Germany Trend Jens Spahn occupies a prominent place in the ranking of the most popular politicians. In November, the CDU politician was just behind the Chancellor with more than 60 percent approval. The increase in the number of corona cases and small-scale political decisions in the fight against the pandemic do not appear to have hurt the minister.
“Watchful Serenity”
That was not predictable at the beginning of the year. Review: Until January 28, Corona is considered a new virus in this country, which is widespread in China and Asia in particular. But on this day all the news: The corona virus has also been detected in Germany for the first time. A 33-year-old man from Bavaria was infected by a colleague who had traveled from China. It’s not the only one.
It will be just under two weeks before Health Minister Spahn officially announces in Berlin that the virus has reached Germany. Advises “watchful calm.” The disease courses of the known cases in Germany are very mild, the authorities are well prepared. “Our primary goal is and will continue to be to reduce the spread.” That doesn’t sound dramatic. The German health system is well positioned, says Spahn.
Germany in spring lockdown
That will change. The number of infections is increasing, intensive care beds are filled, ventilators, protective clothing for the material and medical care and masks for the population are lacking. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder demands help from the federal government, a “protective shield” for hospitals in this difficult situation. “Please postpone planned operations and interventions now,” the Federal Minister of Health wrote in a letter to all clinics in the country in mid-March. Lump sums are paid for non-compliance.
It is the moment of the first confinement. Schools and daycares, restaurants, clubs, cinemas, theaters and many stores will be closed. Spahn changes course. You pay a lot of money: for extra protective clothing, for not wearing it in doctor’s offices and therapy facilities, for better equipment for health authorities. They are the bottleneck for tracking contacts with people with Covid-19.
When the summer holidays end in August and September and many German tourists return from risky areas, they test themselves upon arrival. Mandatory and free.
“We will have to forgive ourselves”
But the government’s biggest promise cannot be fulfilled before the end of the year: to do everything possible to protect the most vulnerable groups. This includes the very old. Mortality among them is particularly high. Nursing homes are becoming hot spots in the crown. There is a lack of nursing staff, protective clothing and rapid tests, although the “National Testing Strategy” is aimed precisely at this group.
After the first wave of spring, the Minister of Health will say: “We have all learned a lot in recent weeks. Also about this virus and the consequences of some decisions.” And: “We will probably have to forgive ourselves a lot in a few months.” For example, it would not close stores again, Spahn says in the summer. Some traders now remember it.
“Lock light” is not enough
And Spahn also misjudges the development of the pandemic, like many others. The number of infections has increased again since September. The “blackout light” that the federal and state governments decided for November cannot reverse the trend. In the second half of November, however, the Health Minister said several times in public that after the spring, Germany “managed to break the wave of infections for the second time. There is currently no more exponential growth.” That’s not bad at the time, but the numbers have stalled at a very high level.
Problems with the care voucher
The CDU politician causes problems with the well-intentioned 1,000 euro voucher for the nursing staff. Announced 100 million euros by the federal government, states and carriers should add a little more. But the distribution doesn’t work. During the salary dispute for the civil service, the minister in Berlin is booed by hospital employees.
And in the Bundestag, resistance to the primacy of the executive is growing, especially from the opposition factions. MEPs want a voice and a vote when it comes to massive violations of fundamental rights and the life and death of citizens. Recently there was also criticism from Parliament of Spahn’s regulation, which specifies which groups should be vaccinated first.
Was it the year of Jens Spahn, or is it coming?
2020 should have been the most difficult year for politician Jens Spahn. He is the government communicator and administrator of the pandemic. A minister who, fortunately only a little, falls ill with Covid-19 and talks about his experiences. Spahn throws himself into the argumentative and emotional gap left by Chancellor Merkel for a long time.
It is based on scientific advice from the beginning and rarely appears in front of the press without experts. And he never tires of explaining AHA rules and enforcing them: Sometimes pragmatic with the question of what is easier to do without: “A concert, a football game? Or on the way to work?”, Sometimes encouraging that “vaccinating to get out of the pandemic” is, and at times also pathetic: the pandemic is “a test of character for us as a society.
At the moment, it seems that Spahn has passed: not only is he more popular than ever. But the polls also give the Health Minister a good chance to become chairman of the CDU party. Although he didn’t even ask for it.
