It’s not that this pandemic has only just started. It was clear that with the start of the new school year, with all the tests in schools and daycare centers, the number of infections would increase. That more people are infected again and have to be quarantined again. And although everyone expected it, the health department of the city of Munich had too few staff at the beginning of the school year to order a quarantine in all cases. A health department that doesn’t have the situation under control is really not reassuring in times of a pandemic.
School principals report that the health department does not answer for days. Infected children stay at home, the school principals independently send their neighbors home – but in these cases, too, a call to the health department would be needed to explain to the parents and the child how to proceed. Many have waited for this call in vain. Many have tested themselves after five days, you know the rules by now. However, the health department should not rely on everyone knowing and following these rules.
Politicians and the city repeatedly emphasize that schools must run smoothly – also because parents and children have already suffered enough in the pandemic. But one does not get the impression that this maxim is being used. In any case, it does not show good planning if the health department is so surprised by the occurrence of infections in schools.
The staff has now been increased, which is good. Perhaps everyone who has to go into quarantine will soon receive an official order. But what happens next, should the numbers continue to rise in winter? Is the health department prepared for this? And why doesn’t it actually work the other way around? Why does the health department not have enough staff to react directly to increasing numbers of infections? To wait and then to increase staff is the wrong way to go. After a year and a half of the pandemic, that should be clear to everyone.