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Virologist Streeck trusts in people’s personal responsibility. The offers worked better than the bans in Corona, he says tagesschau24. Cautions: It can take years before a vaccine is available.
tagesschau24: Italy leads the way in rapid tests. How long will it be before we have rapid tests available in Germany?
Hendrik Streeck: It is being tested and tested in many labs right now to see how safe these rapid tests are. I think we will use them relatively quickly.
Of course, doctors are very interested in being able to quickly decide whether a corona infection is also present in patients, so that they can see whether patients need to be isolated or not. So I think the rapid tests can be used at least in small amounts in just two weeks, and then across the board at the end of the month.
Rapid test in front of hospitals and nursing homes
tagesschau24: The test strategy for Germany should be available shortly. How could it be seen?
Streeck: Above all, it concerns antigen testing (Note: Rapid test medical name) – to quickly test whether a person is infectious or not in front of nursing homes and hospitals, for example.
If you really want to rule out Covid 19 disease, that is, if someone is seriously ill and you want to rule out the possibility of a coronavirus infection, you should still wait for the PCR test because it is much more sensitive and therefore better. is to rule out infection.
tagesschau24: If there is not enough evidence in Germany, who should be preferred?
Streeck: In my opinion, the goal of rapid tests is to protect people who are at high risk of infection. You can use these tests, for example, in front of the hospital or at the entrance of nursing homes and nursing homes so that patients can still receive visits there. This is not a first pass test for airplanes or stadiums.
“Unfortunately it is a marathon”
tagesschau24: The number of people infected with Corona in Germany is increasing every day. At the same time, the number of people unaware of Corona is increasing. How do you get out of this situation?
Streeck: The problem is that a pandemic can only be tackled together. It is not just about the solidarity of everyone in Germany, but also around the world and above all within Europe.
In my opinion, the most important thing is communication. Let everyone understand that you have to take responsibility and be aware of each other. Unfortunately, it is a marathon, it is not a short sprint. Therefore, it is even more important that we talk about commandments and not about prohibitions and regulations. It works much better. We also know from other pandemics and other diseases that such strategies work better than if they were regulated by regulations.
Ambiguity about the vaccine
tagesschau24: Is the federal government doing the right thing in your eyes?
Streeck: In my opinion, it is important that we find solutions. For me, good crisis management includes pragmatic solutions. I’d like to see more discussions on how you can reopen certain areas, how you can allow certain things again, without saying, “We’ll go back to zero for now.”
tagesschau24: The whole world is waiting for a vaccine. How long will it take? What you think?
Streeck: You can’t really predict that. The first vaccine can work wonderfully. But it may also take a few months, years, or even decades.
There are many pathogens such as tuberculosis or malaria for which we do not yet have a vaccine, although millions of people die each year. Especially in the third and final phase of development, in which new vaccines are currently found, a lot can happen and a lot of unforeseen events can happen that show that the vaccine is not usable. We cannot say how good a vaccine is until this phase is over.
tagesschau24: That means Corona will keep us busy for a long time, right?
Streeck: Yes, even if we have a vaccine, the virus is likely to be with us for life. Only once did we manage to eliminate a virus completely, so that humanity no longer has problems. We have the ability to control it with the vaccine. But we will always see infections with it.
The interview was conducted by Kirsten Gerhard, tagesschau24. It was shortened and edited for the written version. You can find the full version as a video on this page.
