Virologist Christian Drosten: “We lose maybe the lead”
The virologist Prof. Christian Drosten has spoken in the NDR Podcast “Coronavirus-Update” against the loosening of the public life. The expert feared an uncontrolled spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus in Germany. Previous successes in the containment could be ruined.
The projection could be playful
Previous successes in the containment of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus could be playful, the head of Virology at the Charité hospital in Berlin. By loosening the positive trend could be reversed. He was sorry “to see so much that we are just going to squander this lead here”.
In a global comparison, Germany was one of the most successful countries in the fight against the pandemic. Because of the outbreak had been detected early without already overloaded clinics and high mortality would be the starting gun for action given. In other countries this was not so. Germany have had a month head start in comparison to Italy or Spain.
“I think the policy was very well intentioned, one could see very well, that you looked at the locker very carefully to the last Detail, and had planned to surround the new infections strong.” But don’t let it slip away “to us, this is very important now,” said Drosten.
In this context, the virologist criticized, that the entire shopping center were full of people, because in the shopping malls, the individual transactions are smaller than 800 square meters. “You have to ask yourself as before, if all this is still really useful.” We are in a very fragile area, according to the researchers. “You can’t do that, if you want us to come back about R1.” R1 designates the reproduction number. This means that, on average, almost every Corona-infected Infected a different Person.
Individual interpretations could trigger new chains of Infection
Again and again he would get emails from citizens who asked him, how individual interpretations are supposed to look. Drosten warned against those “individual interpretations” after the first loosening. “If all the start, to be interpreted in the own Interpretation, entirely free, then start the chain in many places in Germany, suddenly there is a new Infection.”
Drosten wouldn’t be surprised if the may and June, suddenly, a Situation would arise, “we can’t control, if we are not careful”. It could then give a lot more “starting points for the Virus as of the beginning of the epidemic.” (sb)