By Philip Fabian
Other countries, such as France, have declared the Corona state of emergency over and are proceeding according to the motto “learn to live with the virus”. Completely different, our Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (59, SPD). His motto is: keep stirring up fear, keep demanding strict rules.
Most recent example, 01:09 on Monday night. Lauterbach spread his next panic offensive via Twitter: “Nobody wants to hear that. But many 20-50-year-olds will experience inflammation of their brain tissue as a result of Long Covid in the fall, as the number of corona cases increases. We need to finally develop therapies,” he wrote.
He also posted an article from the Washington Post about the effects of Long Covid on brain tissue, which, however, sounded much less alarmist than Lauterbach himself.
What Lauterbach doesn’t mention: “Effects may not be permanent”
Brain expert Wes Ely wrote of “good news”: “The effects of Long Covid on the brain may not be permanent and not progressive”, meaning they do not worsen over time. The “bad news”, writes the expert, is that it often affects patients between the ages of 20 and 50.
︎ The expert left open how many patients are affected and how many corona patients are actually affected by Long Covid.
︎ Lauterbach, on the other hand, wrote it in such a way that it sounds like the greatest possible danger: In the case of “many” 20 to 50 year olds, a corona infection would lead to inflammation of the brain tissue in the fall.
Since “many” is a vague term, he doesn’t make himself vulnerable, unlike with the corona death numbers, which he likes to quote – and which have now turned out to be exaggerated in the case of Omikron.
Traffic light partners are enough
“We finally have to develop therapies,” writes the responsible minister in a demanding tone – probably without calling on his staff beforehand, which would be there for exactly that.
Lauterbach’s panic mode is now getting on the nerves of even its own coalition partners. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (45, FDP) had previously told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Monday): “I don’t believe in scaremongering at all. There are currently no signs of such virus variants anywhere.”
With a view to the epidemic situation, the FDP man added: “The Bundestag would have to agree to this for reactivation. There is no majority in the coalition for this. Because the Free Democrats said hell would have to open up among us before we agreed to that.”
CSU Minister of Health demands the Chancellor’s word of power
Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU): “The appearance of the Berlin traffic light is disastrous! When a federal minister accuses the other of ‘scaremongering’, that unsettles the citizens. But with a view to the possible new corona wave in autumn, we need a clear course from the government. That’s why Chancellor Olaf Scholz has to put his foot down and stop the corona chaos in his government immediately!”
Holetschek added: “Especially in times of crisis, people need orientation. However, the federal government is currently not succeeding in securing energy after the Russian attack on Ukraine or in the Corona debate – and that can mean a major loss of confidence for politics as a whole.”
But Lauterbach can’t help it, unsettling the Germans with a view to the increasing number of cases in autumn.
With the omicron subvariant BA.5, at least at the beginning of autumn, there will be an increase in the number of cases, the SPD politician told the “Welt am Sonntag”. “There will then be failures in the companies and the critical infrastructure, for example in hospitals. So we have difficult times ahead of us.” This is especially the case when staying indoors due to the low temperatures becomes the norm.