Nobody wants to restrict people’s lives more tightly again. Especially not over Christmas and New Year’s Eve. And yet it has to be. The first vote that the newly installed Corona Expert Council of the Federal Government published on Sunday makes the seriousness of the situation clear: According to everything that is known so far, the Corona virus in its new Omikron variant is so contagious that it is a threat that goes far beyond what the pandemic has expected of the people in recent months. Despite the vaccinations now available. Despite the many recovered people who are now in the country. Even in spite of the already considerable booster rate of 30 percent. Because the virus undermines the immune protection that humans have acquired through vaccination or illness, and therefore leads to increased infections in them too; the boosting can only slow it down, not stop it. The consequence will be an explosive spread of omicrons. In contrast, only a drastic reduction in contacts can help.
Because even if Omikron should lead to somewhat milder courses, at least in vaccinated people, as some observations suggest, then that gives every individual who is infected a more favorable perspective. But the sheer number of new infections expected is so powerful – it doesn’t help society as a whole if the proportion of seriously ill among those infected drops a little. Slightly less severe courses among an exorbitantly more infected people ultimately means an even higher need for beds in the hospital. And all of this against the background that the health system is already working at full capacity and patients with diseases other than Covid-19 are already not receiving the care they need and deserve.
Empty supermarket shelves, no school lessons, understaffed fire brigade: all of this can happen
In addition, since the new virus, this unpleasant masterpiece of evolution, also leads to high infection rates among convalescent and vaccinated people without a booster, more and more people have to isolate themselves in the course of the now threatening omicron wave. Regardless of the burden of disease, this means a real threat to daily life in the country. This has already been seen in Great Britain with Delta after the country proclaimed its Freedom Day: so many people had to stay at home that supermarket shelves were empty, schools were hardly ever due to a lack of teachers, and shifts in the police and fire departments could no longer be manned was. This is one of the reasons why action must be taken now – and quickly.
There are still people who cannot or do not want to recognize the danger posed by the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic virus in principle and now also because of its new variant Omikron, including politicians. What a blessing it is that the new federal government has finally, after almost two years of pandemic, convened a council of top-class experts that speaks with one voice, offers politics and society clear guidance with straightforward and transparently published votes and so that, hopefully, the unbearable tugging of the prime ministers for the sovereignty of interpretation in the crisis will end.
Even if there is still some uncertainty about Omikron: There is nothing left to be said about the fundamental threat posed by this new variant. Thanks to the clear words of the Expert Council, federal and state governments now have the opportunity to prepare the state and the population for a real emergency. And, just as a preliminary remark, in case a medical representative or an emeritus microbiologist should speak out in the coming days: You cannot fundamentally assess the situation differently. The approval of the vote in the expert council? 19 of 19.