In the middle of the health crisis there is a change at the top of the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL). LGL President Walter Jonas is leaving his post after just over a year and will be President of the Upper Palatinate Government on February 1, 2022. The lawyer succeeds Axel Bartelt, who is retiring. The new LGL President will be Christian Weidner, who has qualified as a doctor and has previously been head of the staff department at the State Office. The 50-year-old is “not only an expert on the LGL, but also an accomplished expert as a doctor,” said Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU). Weidner is the third LGL boss in less than a year and a half. In August 2020, the long-time head of the authorities, Andreas Zapf, switched to the Ministry of Health at short notice.
In government circles it was emphasized that the procedure for filling two government president posts had been going on for a long time – but there were always voices that wanted a health professional at the top of the LGL instead of a lawyer. In addition, the authority is criticized for calculating the corona incidence. The question is whether it is legitimate to add people with an unknown vaccination status to the group of the unvaccinated. Jonas had defended this counting method of his authority from a technical point of view, but questions remained unanswered. The Landtag FDP called Jonas a “pawn” on Tuesday.
Also on February 1st, Konrad Schober will be the new district president of Upper Bavaria. Schober, who last worked in the Ministry of the Interior, succeeds Maria Els, she too is retiring.