The German Retail Association (HDE) took the report published on Friday by the interdisciplinary committee of experts evaluating the corona policy in Germany as an opportunity to speak out against future serious encroachments on fundamental rights such as lockdowns, mask requirements and 2G/3G regulations for retail.
The report is “a clear sign that renewed serious encroachments on fundamental rights such as lockdowns with business closures can no longer be considered proportionate in the future”. The committee had previously determined that the lack of data and studies made a careful assessment of most corona measures impossible.
“If the data situation in the third year of the pandemic is still not sufficient to assess the effectiveness of restrictions to protect the population from infection due to government failures, then there will be no basis for serious encroachments on fundamental rights in the future. It is now important not to pursue the toughest interventions again, but only to apply proportionate and effective measures,” comments HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth in a statement.
He pointed out how business closures and restrictions such as 2G and 3G rules in recent years have deeply interfered with the fundamental rights of retailers and have caused considerable economic damage despite government support measures.
“There can no longer be such serious interventions as lockdowns or access restrictions only on suspicion. In the future, far-reaching state restrictions may only be imposed for constitutional reasons if they have a valid scientific basis,” Genth demands.
With regard to business closures and 2G or 3G rules, however, this is missing: the experts assess their effectiveness critically in the current, advanced phase of the pandemic: Outside the initial phase – which is now more than two years ago – the effectiveness of a lockdown diminishes quickly.
The assessment of the effect of 2G/3G measures is therefore associated with difficulties and uncertainties beyond the early phase. As far as FFP2 masks are concerned, “a general recommendation to wear them… cannot be derived from the data available so far,” according to the report.
For Genth, this is reason enough, as a representative of retail interests, to speak out clearly against measures that have a major negative impact on the industry and quality of life, but only show a small effect in containing the pandemic.
“The pandemic must be fought effectively and in a targeted manner. However, if politics and science are not able to validly assess the effectiveness of lockdowns and 2G and 3G measures in the third year of the pandemic, then they will have to do without them in the future. Further blind flights that cause serious economic damage without proven benefit are unacceptable,” concludes Genth.