Relaxation in the corona pandemic: the medical profession welcomes a phased plan

There is a lot of approval from the medical profession for the plans of the federal and state governments for a gradual relaxation of the corona protection measures. But there is also criticism – about the schedule or the way.

In the medical profession, the considerations of the federal and state governments for a step-by-step plan to move away from the corona protection measures are approved. “Society needs a plan for gradual easing, but of course with a sense of proportion,” said the CEO of the German Hospital Society, Gerald Gaß, the editorial network Germany (RND).

“This is especially true because the numbers show that we have also passed the peak of the omicron wave,” said Gass. Although the occupancy of patients who tested positive in the normal wards is still increasing, the maximum values ​​​​of the intensive care load at the turn of the year are a long way off.

Marburger Bund: “Right Approach”

The Marburger Bund doctors’ association also considers a phased approach to be the “right approach”. “It can only be done gradually and with a sense of proportion,” said association leader Susanne Johna of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”.

Finally, the FFP2 mask requirement should fall. In view of the still high infection activity, they are indispensable, especially indoors. “They will probably no longer be needed until early summer, but they will probably be part of everyday life in some areas of the healthcare system,” predicted Johna.

Virologist Stöhr is not going fast enough

The virologist Klaus Stöhr, on the other hand, is not moving fast enough. He called on politicians to relax quickly. “You have to loosen up wherever there is evidence that there are no corona outbreaks,” Stöhr told RND. “A repeal of all G-rules in retail and gastronomy is imperative, as neither were ever hotspots.”

He criticized the draft resolution for the federal-state meeting on Wednesday, which became known on Monday, according to which the easing should be gradually eased. “Since the hospitals are obviously not at risk of being overburdened, any further delay in loosening must be precisely justified: with facts and figures,” says Stöhr.

Montgomery criticized fashion

With reference to these numbers, however, the chairman of the board of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, criticized the planned easing. It was “problematic” that the draft resolution “ignores the fact that the number of hospitalizations and intensive care admissions is still increasing,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group.

It is right “that you make a plan for how you want to relax and how you want to monitor the easing”. But then he restricted: “I think it is problematic that the loosening is linked to calendar dates, because the virus doesn’t care about the calendar beginning of spring.” Instead, in his opinion, it would be better “to tie this to a mix of data on hospitalizations, intensive care bed occupancy and the incidence of new infections”.