Health Minister Karl Lauterbach takes a critical look back at past corona measures. Some measures were “nonsense”.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has again criticized errors in the fight against the corona pandemic. “What was nonsense, if I can speak so freely, these rules are out there,” said Lauterbach on the ZDF program “Markus Lanz” on Thursday evening.
He was referring, for example, to the temporary ban on going jogging without a mask. “Of course it’s clear, there were excesses,” said Lauterbach, who has been Minister of Health since December 2021. The states would have massively overstimulated, especially Bavaria. The long daycare and school closures were also a mistake.
Overall positive balance
Nevertheless, Lauterbach’s balance sheet was positive overall almost three years after the beginning of the pandemic. “We got through fine.” Thanks to the cautious approach, mortality in Germany was lower than in other countries, despite the old population. So far, around 180,000 people in Germany have died as a result of a corona infection. “That’s not a bad number, but we would have done even better if it hadn’t been for this constant politicization of the measures,” he said.
Bayern disagrees with Lauterbach
The Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) rejected Lauterbach’s criticism. Bavaria’s Corona course was consistent, but new developments were reacted to with a sense of proportion and freedom was made possible. “Lauterbach should actually know that Bavaria was a role model in important areas,” said Holetschek on Friday. The country started testing at schools early on in order to be able to guarantee face-to-face teaching.
