Recently Markus Söder said that the fourth corona wave was “cracked, not broken”. It is similar with general confidence in the pandemic policy. The “hour of the executive”, in which the government was ruled through without much questioning, struck 2020. Politicians have long had to woo the citizens for trust every day. It is a good idea to weigh every word, argue accurately and check every number to see whether it is watertight. Only accuracy and liability create the basis for the corona measures to be accepted, which are very precise and binding in everyday life. And that is also the basis for ensuring that those who rightly bleat on the fringes of society with fake news or half-truths do not gain popularity.
In this respect, the debate about the incidence of unvaccinated people in Bavaria is a veritable communication disaster, even if it is actually only a data detail. Anyone who, apart from the grand conspiracy thesis, has perhaps always thought that there was somehow a bit of smut involved in the pandemic policy will feel encouraged. What was? The State Office for Health (LGL) automatically counts infected people whose vaccination status is unknown as not vaccinated. This creates astronomical incidences for the group, which is already more severely affected. Most recently, the LGL did not know whether two thirds of the people were vaccinated, which greatly distorts the value. Health Minister Klaus Holetschek and the Prime Minister used these same numbers for vaccination appeals, without reference to the vague basis. The LGL itself lists the uncertainty factor, but in the small print.
The cause is proof of how overburdened government agencies are when they can barely raise the vaccination status. But it is fatal to trumpet estimates as fixed statistics to the world; not out of intent to forgery, more likely out of the joy of superlatives. It was also a numbers game for the cat: That the vaccination offers protection is also so clear to many sensible people, and cross-heads can hardly be converted by any number. The state government has done the higher goal of defeating Corona a disservice. Thumbs up, you can’t get through the pandemic.
After all, Holetschek looked a bit contrite on Monday. At the weekend he wrote on Twitter that that wasn’t an issue at all, in a sense: that’s that! But it is one thing: Because people have a right to reliable data and, if these cannot be clearly determined, to honest communication. It is also an issue because Holetschek’s first stubborn, defiant reaction, who most recently acted as a proper crisis manager, was as crooked as the statistics.