Germany: when and how to reassess Covid policy?
Curfews, vaccination campaigns and compulsory face masks. Were the state-imposed restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic really necessary - and effective? These and other questions will not be addressed in the German parliament – at least not in the current legislative period – Katja Mast, leader of the SPD group in the Bundestag, announced on Wednesday. The SPD and FDP have not reached an agreement on how to proceed.
The hatred is still there
The decision is disastrous, complains Der Tagesspiegel:
“The number of people who turned to the AfD - which presented itself as the anti-coronavirus-regulations party - because they perceived the grand coalition of CDU and SPD as authoritarian has been grossly underestimated. Many people lost their faith in politics and many citizens became alienated during the pandemic. Anyone who expressed doubts about certain restrictions was quickly labelled as talking nonsense. The hatred that was stirred up during the pandemic is still simmering in the country. Perhaps the government will have to change before the question can be dealt with in detail.”
Prevention is the priority
Any review of the pandemic must do more than just address social issues, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung argues:
“Those who limit the question of how to assess the pandemic to how it affects the social climate and their own voter groups are only thinking things through halfway. For a long time there has been more at stake than just the abstract idea of debate and conciliation, about making concessions to those sections of society that are currently turning away from the political process. We must also answer technical questions, and ask how Germany can effectively prepare for pandemics, which are becoming increasingly likely.”