As the head of the RKI, Lothar Wieler heard about the spreading coronavirus early on. Now he has explained how the pandemic situation could nonetheless come about.
Munich – When most people in Germany found out about the new type of corona virus at the beginning of 2020, most of them will only have had a tired smile for it. “It’s just scare tactics”, “media hype” and that won’t reach us here in Germany. Most of the population went through the first three months of the year without any worries. Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), was on the alert for a long time.
He told the Süddeutsche Zeitung : “We became aware of the first reports at the end of 2019. The occurrence of unclear pneumonia in connection with a meat market in China is almost a textbook-like alarm signal. We immediately took that seriously. ”Wieler’s team then followed the Chinese press and set up its own working group for the new pathogen.
Coronavirus: Italy and Iran as the beginning of the end
There should even have been a short phase in which there was hope that the virus would not spread any further. After all, the first German case near Munich was quickly recognized and tamed. “When lower case numbers were reported from China in the meantime, we briefly had the hope that the outbreak could be contained.” It was only at the end of February 2020 that the course of the pandemic could no longer be stopped. “At the latest when we saw the dramatic increase in the numbers in Italy and Iran, it was clear that the pandemic could no longer be stopped.”
Now the coronavirus will be with us steadily, due to its zoonotic nature – which means that it is also spreading in animals – it is no longer conceivable, explained the RKI boss. According to Wieler, it would now be a matter of achieving 80 percent immunity in the population in order to control Covid-19. This must be achieved through vaccinations, and this is still possible this year. “Illnesses will continue to occur, but on a smaller, more manageable level. If outbreaks do occur, they will be quickly contained. There will be no more uncontrolled waves with many seriously ill patients. “
Coronavirus: Lothar Wieler warns of a lack of willingness to vaccinate
So the prospects, if Germany can keep up the pace of vaccination, are very positive. Over 33 million people in Germany have already been vaccinated for the first time, and almost twelve million have already received the second sting. There was a small break-in only over Pentecost, on Whit Monday only 287,574 people were vaccinated. On the previous Monday there were over 540,000.
In the next few days, however, the numbers should increase significantly again. In any case, Wieler warns: “If people were careless and if they were not ready to be vaccinated, then the infection rate could become more intense again. That is very clear: the risk is still high. ”Hopefully the RKI expert will be heard – and not, as in 2020, laughed at. (ta)
