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The coronavir puts pressure on Germany again. A few days ago, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that there was a risk of catastrophe if drastic measures were not taken.
For example, it was already announced last week that children should bring blankets to schools, because it is necessary to use the windows and ventilate the premises every 20 minutes. Furthermore, the entire leadership of the German internal intelligence service has been isolated.
Records of new infections are reported almost daily. Last Friday 7,334 infections were registered, the day before, 6,638. During the weekend, it is true that the number of infections decreased, but only because the laboratories are not operating at full capacity.
“We do not expect the numbers to start falling tomorrow. They will continue to rise, said Helge Brown, head of Merkel’s administration. – A really big second wave is starting. The situation is much more serious than in spring.”
Italy introduced the threat
Such an assessment is truly grim for a country that appears to have fought a pandemic better than any other European country so far.
“The German exception?” – Earlier this year, when Germany recorded significantly fewer coronavirus infections and deaths of infected people, asked the headline of the American newspaper The New York Times.
Even a month ago, there was no shortage of posts claiming that Germany had managed to avoid a second wave of COVID-19. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has even had the idea that Germans are more rule-abiding than “freedom-loving” British.
imago images / Stefan Zeitz / Scanpix photo / Empty Berlin Brandenburg Airport
Today, everything seems quite far away. However, according to observers, Germany has a significant advantage over countries such as France, Spain or the United Kingdom: time.
When Merkel’s senior adviser on the health and coronavirus crisis, Professor Christian Drosten, was asked what the German secret to handling a pandemic was, his answer was very simple.
The public has already taken the threat seriously when reading the reports from Italy. Many people followed the rules about social distance.
“It just came to our notice then. Nowhere have we been particularly special. But we took action a little earlier,” Drosten said.
When the first wave of COVID-19 arrived in Germany, the country’s government was aware of what was happening in Italy and Spain a few weeks ago. And from there they ran reports of clogged hospitals and corpses of victims that did not fit in the morgues.
“It just came to our attention then. The public has already taken the threat seriously by reading the reports from Italy. Many people have followed the rules of social distance,” said Max Geraedts, a professor at the University of Marburg.
Merkel’s calls are outrageous
History repeats itself: the second wave of the pandemic for Germany and it hits again later than for many other European countries.
However, it is still unclear whether Berlin will be able to reap such an advantage. After all, the government cannot ignore the tiredness of society and the increasingly suspicious looks at the constant restrictions.
By the summer, thousands of people in Berlin had already protested against the government’s measures to combat the pandemic. A far-right group even tried to storm the Reichstag.
Photo by Scanpix / Berlin, August 29th Those who opposed the measures taken in Germany to combat COVID-19 protested against the protest
Merkel is constantly issuing warnings about impending catastrophe and, as a result, she is already called “Cassandra” in the press. The chancellor’s efforts to impose tougher restrictions are upsetting to many, and Länder leaders last week rejected her calls to restrict travel within Germany.
Too much testing is being done now: Labs across the country are warning that it’s too difficult to get that many tests done on time.
The initiative by individual states to temporarily prevent people living on lands where infections are most prevalent from staying in hotels or vacation rentals has sparked such public outrage that the idea was immediately dropped.
The German courts have set foot in Merkel herself. They reversed an earlier decision to close restaurants and bars in Berlin starting at 11pm
“Reuters” / “Scanpix” nuotr./Angela Merkel
Finally, the German testing and contact tracing program praised by the rest of the world no longer supports the burden. Now too much testing is being done: Labs across the country are warning that it is too difficult to get that many tests done on time.
If the vaccine doesn’t help, life will change dramatically
Furthermore, it is far from clear that German officials were as well prepared for the new wave of the virus as for the first.
Germany developed its testing program as soon as it heard the first reports about the spread of a new coronavirus in China. The program prepared for the virus even before it reached Europe.
Dr. Drosten was one of the main initiators of the ultra-extensive testing program at the time, but already explained back in the summer that mass testing is not a very smart solution. Nobody asked the professor.
“Reuters” / “Scanpix” nuotr./Christianas Drostenas
“Nine out of ten infected people are not involved in the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, it is enough to have many infections to be a hotbed,” Drosten told the government to pay more attention to the “super-spreaders” of the coronavirus.
But in Germany, as in the UK, coronavirus tests are on the rise, around 1.1 million. per week.
Which means Merkel and her government just have to try to convince the public that they need to be very careful again. The anger spilled in private is said to have been specifically drained during a conversation with the leaders of the lands: that the people should hear that a catastrophe is indeed in danger.
Obviously, we will not avoid the second wave, so we must go back to the basics: transparent communication about what we know and what we don’t know. Also, the evidence must be trusted.
“It just came to our knowledge then. The fate of Christmas and whether it will be normal or not will depend on how we behave now,” said Health Minister Jens Spahn.
For his part, Bundestag MP Karl Lauterbach told The Guardian that he hoped transparency would also help Germany in the fall, with not only the government but also scientists actively working to explain the dangers of COVID-19 to the public in spring.
“Obviously, we will not avoid the second wave, so we must go back to the basics: transparent communication about what we know and what we don’t know. Also, the evidence must be trusted.
What is the long-term outlook? German society believes that a vaccine will be developed. The most vulnerable are expected to be vaccinated in the spring and everyone else in the fall of next year. But if the vaccination campaign is not successful, our lives and society will fundamentally change, ”says Lauterbach.
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