Some experts say the number of infections is increasing and clinics are increasingly full. While other countries declare the pandemic over, many German politicians are once again calling for protective measures, writes Deutsche Welle.

Autumn has come. Colorful leaves flutter on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm street. Passers-by walk from store to store, leaving with large bags: clothes, perfumes, gifts. Ku’damm, as the Berliners call it, lives off the people who walk and are tempted by the windows.

They seem to have forgotten about the pandemic. No one keeps their distance anymore, except for a few shoppers wearing protective masks. By the way, even the signs urging people to wear masks have disappeared.

But soon the situation may change. Hospitals are sounding the alarm, many doctors and nurses are insisting on the rapid restoration of mandatory wearing of masks indoors. Due to the high number of infections, the normal functioning of many hospitals has been seriously disrupted.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, the federal government’s central public health institution, there are already as many Covid patients in hospitals as during peak hours this year, and the trend is increasing. Since mid-September, the number of patients with Covid in hospitals has increased rapidly.

A mask is bad for business

Berlin and Brandenburg became the first federal states to decide to re-introduce the obligation to wear masks in closed public places, at least in the retail sector. “It’s a bad prospect,” says Jinia Tarik, standing behind the counter of a clothing store on the Kurfürstendamm.

“We have a lot of foreign visitors here and they don’t like masks,” says the 24-year-old, rolling up a navy sweater. “If the masks come again, the number of customers will definitely decrease.”

We would also see an increase in prices, – believes the young woman. “We would again need someone at the front door to make sure people are wearing masks when they come in,” she says. On the other hand, no one can control what happens in the changing rooms, whether they wear masks or not. exported

Pressure on hospitals

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach believes that Germany is well prepared for autumn and winter thanks to vaccines and adapted medicines. However, he warns that “the direction in which we are moving is not a good one.” According to him, the number of deaths is increasing, despite the fact that the Omicron variant causes less severe diseases.

Currently, most patients in intensive care units are elderly and with pre-existing conditions, whose risk remains high even in the face of the Omicron virus variant. Most Covid patients are in regular wards and, according to the German Hospital Association, they are often admitted to hospital with a Covid infection rather than severe symptoms. However, infected patients must be isolated, so they need more space and staffing requirements increase exponentially.

A year ago, when the Delta option was running, the number of deaths at this time of year skyrocketed.

The problem is that hospitals have long been unable to meet the need for specialists, have chronic labor shortages, and recently also face a shortage of many infected workers. In this regard, planned treatments and operations are postponed, and emergency patients with myocardial infarction or other life-threatening diseases cannot be additionally accepted.

The energy crisis also plays a role

The current debate about tighter protection measures in Germany is not so much related to the fact that other countries – where there are no longer restrictions – have a different assessment of the pandemic, which is now manifested in the Omicron variant.

In Germany, this is more about concerns about the imminent collapse of health care, especially as the health care system is under additional pressure from the energy crisis and related financial pressures.

This worries city and municipal administrations, as well as some federal states, which must now decide whether and in what form some restrictions will be tightened again. Under the Infection Control Act, the federal government no longer has jurisdiction in this area.

In this context, Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach appealed to the Länder with a proposal to re-introduce a mandatory mask. “It is better to work with minor restrictions now than to react with drastic restrictions later,” he said.

Regarding the mask, opinions differ

“I would understand the renewal of the obligation to wear a mask,” said saleswoman Jeannette Seidel from Berlin, who works in a small boutique in an alley on the Kurfürstendamm. “But we don’t really want that,” she adds in a resigned voice. The woman says she’s just tired all day at work wearing a mask. In addition, the workshop has an air purifier.

In Germany, opinions on the mask have long been divided. Those who continue to wear them voluntarily, whether in the supermarket or in the cinema, are forced to endure ugly looks and sometimes even verbal attacks. There are problems even in places where masks are still mandatory. People who work on the railways or in public transport and have to ask passengers to wear masks report that verbal or even physical altercations often occur.

An employee of a medical practice in Berlin says he constantly has to talk to patients who come to the practice without a mask, despite the notice on the front door. “Then they often become very aggressive, claiming they’re allergic to the mask, or simply saying they don’t want to wear the mask anymore.”

Tempers also flared up on social media, where users lashed out at each other, arguing for and against the mask. Those who oppose mandatory masks are supported by the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder. “At the moment I don’t want to do that. Everyone can protect themselves by voluntarily wearing a mask and getting vaccinated,” the Christian Social leader said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

On Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm, the atmosphere is much calmer. Bad for business? “No, the mask did not bother her and she was never bored,” says the head of the perfumery, who does not want to be named. “We’re in such an odor cloud here that customers still have to go outside with the test paper to smell something, and there they can take off their masks.”

“We have to deal with the pandemic and its consequences,” says the businesswoman, who wears an FFP2 mask, although it is currently not required. The purple mask matches the outfit.