Germany abandons masks on trains and public transport
Three years after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the farewell to masks on trains and public transport also arrives in Germany (from 2 February). The article by Pierluigi Mennitti from Berlin
Even just a year ago it would have been a date to be celebrated like a freedom day . On 2 February, in fact, one of the last precautionary measures against Covid still in force will fall in Germany : the obligation to use FFP2 masks on public transport. It will cover buses, trams, subways and trains. Not airplanes, where this obligation had already been canceled, under pressure from the companies. Today, this February 2 is instead a date that passes almost on the sly, an easing that also comes late compared to other countries.
HOW THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PANDEMIC WAS IN GERMANY
Away with the masks, therefore, also in Germany, where some Land as usual has gone about its business and has already anticipated the times, also to force the hand of the reluctant Minister of Health: that Karl Lauterbach greeted a year ago as the man right in the right place, the competent doctor finally arrived on the deck of the German ship that had been tossed about in the second year of the pandemic under the increasingly uncertain leadership of his predecessor Jens Spahn.
On the other hand, Lauterbach was lucky enough to manage the descending phase of the infections to which he reacted as expected: like a doctor. Prudence, considered too much by some when it became clear that things were getting better. The story of the masks, no longer necessary in closed places for some time now, had become symbolic. On public transport, Germany also held out this winter, while all neighboring countries had lifted the obligation. And precisely the numbers of infections in Austria and Italy, initially contained then decreasing despite the abolition of masks on public transport, prompted Minister Lauterbach to agree to this step also in Germany.
On the other hand, it was not only the presidents of the Länder who were pressing him, nor even the usual liberal allies, always more inclined to focus more on the free choice of citizens, but also the Greens and finally even his own Social Democratic party colleagues. Also for reasons of public order.
THE LITIGES ON THE OBLIGATION OF MASKS
According to information from the EVG railway and public transport company, disputes over the obligation to wear a mask have leapt to first place in the ranking of reasons that trigger attacks by travelers on staff on duty. And Lauterbach himself has admitted some errors in the rigid management of the crisis, shouldering even those of his predecessor: schools and kindergartens have been closed for too long, the assessments of scientists on the risk of contagion if they had remained open have proved to be exaggerated and they have not been confirmed by the trends of the curves, he said as he took stock of the pandemic.
THE NUMBERS ON CONTAGIONS
Thus freedom day starts on February 2, without fanfares and trumpet calls. The Covid numbers are at the moment more than reassuring even in Germany and give us hope that the current one is not just a truce between different waves but precisely the entry into the post-pandemic phase. From the beginning of January to today, the number of patients hospitalized for Covid in intensive care units has dropped from 1,500 to 800 across the country, so much so that the vice president of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine said that "the virus it is no longer a problem in the intensive care units and now the many operations postponed until December can be recovered".
If we take the data from Berlin as an example, the incidence of infections (measured over 7 days) dropped this week to 58.1. For reference only, exactly one year ago the figure reached 700, with peaks of over 1000 in the most affected neighborhoods. It was in the midst of the winter waves of 2022, in the second year of the pandemic. Then the completion of the vaccination campaign and the diffusion of immunizations through infections with a non-serious course provided sufficient coverage to silence the alarm. The past autumn and the current winter have not shown any new wave of infections.
Another sign of the end of the emergency is the announced farewell to March of Lothar Wieler by the head of the Robert Koch Institut. Weiler was one of the best-known faces during the crisis, the man who at the head of the institute responsible for emergency management explained the progress of the pandemic every week and recommended the measures to be taken. A man projected against his will – and despite his reserved nature – on the proscenium of press conferences. In March 2020, the federal government of the time – also on the basis of its advice – placed Germany in a state of emergency unprecedented in history: schools were closed, contacts were limited as never before, restaurants, hairdressers and similar businesses they had to stop working. Now, three years later, even his farewell – which actually came as a bit of a surprise – marks the end of the emergency. Even if Weiler as a scientist leaves a message to politics, for future reference: "The independence of research must also be accepted in the future, because it is indispensable for the Robert Koch Institut to be able to carry out its tasks".
Thus, Germany is also preparing to enter its post-pandemic phase. With all the problems that Covid leaves on the ground of the health organization, extremely tried by the past three years. Minister Lauterbach is now called to his real test as a minister: that of carrying out a reform of the health system that will once again give priority to the attention and care of the citizen rather than the profitability of hospital beds. Not an easy task at all, because despite the good intentions expressed by everyone in the hot phases of the pandemic emergency, there is not much money to improve and perfect the health system. And the medical crates came out with broken bones from the great pressure sustained. With the economic and political emergencies (primarily the energy one) caused by the Russian war in Ukraine, other priorities have appeared on government tables. Finding the right balance for effective reform will not be easy.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/germania-rimozione-obbligo-mascherine-mezzi-pubblici/ on Tue, 31 Jan 2023 06:48:09 +0000.