The Federal Government’s Corona Expert Council has called for comprehensive preparations by the federal and state governments for a possible new wave of pandemics in autumn. A “solid legal basis for infection protection measures is required for this in order to be able to react quickly to the infection process,” according to a recommendation published on Wednesday. A debate has already begun in the traffic light coalition about a necessary revision of the Infection Protection Act, the corona rules of which expire in September.
The Expert Council names three possible scenarios for autumn and winter. In a “base model” it is assumed that the number of infectious diseases will increase. “Despite the moderate Covid-19 burden in intensive care medicine, the absences from work could again require nationwide measures to protect against transmission (masks and distance indoors), but also measures to reduce contact according to regional standards,” it says.
In a negative scenario, however, a declining immune effect could coincide with more dangerous corona variants, so that even fully vaccinated people could have a severe course of the disease. Then the health system would again be heavily burdened by Covid 19 cases in the intensive care and normal wards. In this case, necessary protective measures such as the obligation to wear masks and the requirement to keep distance could only be reduced in the spring of 2023. In the most favorable scenario, new variants are said to be less dangerous, so that infection control measures are “no longer necessary or only necessary to protect people at risk”.
The goals of the corona policy should be the protection of the health system, the critical infrastructure and the particularly vulnerable population groups “while minimizing the collateral and health burdens on society”, it said.
You can find the opinion of the Expert Council here.
