Bavaria’s state government does not want to release any documents relating to the corona pandemic in order to help process the measures. According to the local opinion, it is “clear that the state government sees no reason for further disclosure of documents,” says a current response from the Ministry of Health to a request from the SPD parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament. SPD parliamentary group leader Florian von Brunn had asked the state government to “disclose the relevant files of the cabinet, the Ministry of Health and the State Office for Health and Food Safety”.
In view of the requirements for schools that were temporarily valid during the pandemic, the ministry believes that there is no need for any subsequent revision: “In the corona pandemic, the protection of life and limb was the top priority. Therefore, from the point of view at the time, the daycare and… School closures or alternating lessons at schools are appropriate and proportionate.”
In this context, the ministry also explicitly refers to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court on the relevant orders. Von Brunn sees this as a mistake and advocates transparency: “Thinking about Corona in a sensible and empathetic way is important for us as a society. This is the only way we can eliminate gaps, learn from mistakes and remember the right decisions for the future.”
A commission consisting of scientists and political representatives, supplemented by a citizens’ council, would also be good in Bavaria. “It is incomprehensible that the Söder government is now refusing to open the files and still declares all measures to be correct.”
The state government, for its part, referred to the transparency in determining the Corona regulations in a democratically legitimized process: “The state parliament was involved in the decisions and supported the state government’s measures with large majorities. The laws and regulations are each officially justified in detail and widely communicated publicly.” In addition, the measures taken were intensively examined in a large number of court proceedings, particularly with regard to their proportionality, and the vast majority of them were confirmed to be legal.
The SPD parliamentary group leader emphasized that he did not assume that decisions during the pandemic were made carelessly: “One thing is clear: none of the decision-makers at the time wanted to harm the population, but people should be protected.” Nevertheless, many children and young people suffered psychological problems as a result of the long school closures, and families with children in particular were put under a lot of strain. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to say that the closures in this form were completely right.” In this context, Von Brunn referred to the federal government in Berlin: “In retrospect, the Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) considers the long school closures to be a mistake and, like many of his cabinet colleagues, is calling for a review.”