Four years after the start of the first corona lockdown in Germany, virologist Christian Drosten has drawn an overall positive assessment of the German crisis strategy. “From a medical perspective, we got through the pandemic well,” he said on Deutschlandfunk.
Compared to other large European industrialized countries, Germany weathered the pandemic well – even if things could have gone better.
The first corona lockdown came into force in Germany on March 22, 2020. The result was extensive contact restrictions. Public life largely came to a standstill. The measures should help slow the spread of the virus.
Benefits scientifically proven
The German reaction to the first wave was internationally praised – it was considered a German miracle, says Drosten. With “relatively mild control measures” there were only a very low number of deaths in the first wave.
It has been scientifically proven that gathering and exit restrictions, home office regulations, school closings, mask requirements as well as testing requirements and contact tracing have been successful. There is poor evidence when it comes to closing shops. From a scientific perspective, the success of the hygiene concepts has not yet been clarified. “The evidence is sometimes shaky because the studies were not designed well enough,” says Drosten.
Social rather than political reappraisal
On Wednesday, the FDP once again pushed for a Bundestag commission to examine the Corona policy. In a letter to the parliamentary group leaders of the SPD and the Greens, FDP health expert Andrew Ullmann and FDP federal deputy Wolfgang Kubicki ask them to enter into discussions about setting up a study commission. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) doesn’t think much of this: “A study commission is typically a very politically charged matter,” he said on ZDF’s “Morgenmagazin”. People would act politically there and work less scientifically.
Drosten would like to see a social reappraisal process instead of a study. “A political commission would tend to give certain forces a platform that shouldn’t be the focus of the discussion,” said the virologist on Deutschlandfunk.
