From the end of March, almost all Corona rules should fall. But how will summer be? While Drosten warns of infections, Kekulé wants to declare the pandemic over.
Berlin – What does summer with the corona virus * look like this year? A question that is probably already being asked by many in view of the spring-like weather. Carefree partying without a mask and distance or quarantine and other measures to contain the pandemic? What’s in store for Germany? According to virologist Streeck, there could be summer and winter phases. Epidemiologist Kekulé even sees the time for a rethink.
Corona in summer: loosening is pending – according to virologist Streeck, the masks could also fall
The signs in the coronavirus pandemic point to relaxation in Germany. The peak of the fifth omicron wave seems to have passed in the majority of the federal states, writes the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in its current Covid weekly report on Thursday evening (March 3). Also on March 3rd, the RKI removed all remaining countries from the high-risk list, clubs and restaurants are allowed to open again under less strict conditions. On March 20th, almost all of the remaining corona regulations are supposed to fall. Even Christian Drosten has ended his Corona podcast. Orientation in the corona pandemic is back. Does this mean that the pandemic is also taking a summer break?
According to virologist Hendrick Streeck, it almost looks like it. He believes that you have to switch to a “summer tire winter tire mode”, said the virologist in the podcast “Die Wochentester” of the editorial network Germany and the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . From the point of view of the virologist, the mask requirement, which should continue to apply after March 20, could also fall in the summer, for example. In winter, however, something else could apply, because “indoors, where there are higher transmissions, masks make sense,” says Streeck.
Corona in summer: Drosten warns of Omikron in summer – masks should stay
A summer without masks? The Charité virologist Christian Drosten assesses the situation differently. In the NDR podcast “Coronavirus Update”, Drosten said that he did not expect an “untamed” corona wave in Germany in the summer, but “you will also be able to get infected with this omicron virus in the summer”. The vaccination progress is not yet sufficient and the infection rate from Omikron is still high.
Accordingly, he also thinks it is advisable to continue wearing masks indoors in summer. In particular, wearing FFP2 masks indoors is “the most efficient measure of all” in the long term.
| Overview of vaccination progress and infections on March 4, 2022 in Germany: | ||
| number | Comparison previous week (25.2) | |
| new infections | +217.593 | +210.743 |
| 7-day incidence | 1,196.4 | 1,259.5 |
| people with primary immunization | 62,806,490 (75.5 percent) | 75.3 percent |
| booster vaccinations | 47,627,669 (57.3 percent) | 56.7 percent |
Corona in summer: Politically, the pandemic is already over – Kekulé speaks of the time for a decision
“In the virological sense, the pandemic will continue for many years, maybe even decades,” a sentence by the epidemiologist Alexander Kekulé, who may shock at first. At Focus.de , the doctor writes that the theory of herd immunity has been refuted because complete immunity does not occur after infection or vaccination. At the same time, the virus currently has no selection pressure for more dangerous mutants, “because people suffering from a cold or a slight cough and even asymptomatically infected people spread the virus very effectively.” The best example of this is the Omicron variant* currently circulating.
It all comes down to when society decides it has done enough to protect against the disease
Therefore, the question of when the pandemic will end does not depend on the coronavirus, but on the population. “It depends on when society decides that it has done enough to protect itself against the disease,” concludes Kekulé. “We have made massive economic, social and psychological sacrifices for two years to contain the virus. With the vaccines, FFP2 masks and rapid tests, everyone now has the opportunity to protect themselves against Covid to some extent and to reduce the risk of severe courses to a reasonable level.” In addition to the mRNA and vector vaccines, there is now also one with Novavax* third alternative.
In view of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the subsequent war in Ukraine, Kekulé therefore concludes: “After two years of the pandemic, it is high time that we got back to dealing with other problems.” Kekulé summarizes that the pandemic was declared over in spite of outbreaks in winter in order to dedicate himself to the reconstruction after the First World War, among other things.
So summer and winter phases or the political decision for the end of the pandemic? It remains to be seen. For the summer we are now expecting the loosening. Experts from Great Britain set up four different corona scenarios* for how the pandemic will subsequently develop. (chd/dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
List of rubrics: © Müller-Stauffenberg/Imago
