Status: 02/10/2023 9:11 p.m
Most recently, Minister of Health Lauterbach had repeatedly criticized past Corona requirements. Now he even called some of the measures “nonsense” – and had Bayern in mind in particular. The reaction from Munich came promptly.
In the corona pandemic, Karl Lauterbach, as a member of the SPD, repeatedly advocated strict conditions to contain the virus. He has been Federal Minister of Health since December 2021. In recent weeks, however, he has repeatedly allowed himself to criticize measures that were imposed during the pandemic.
Lauterbach: countries massively overstimulated
It was only at the end of January that Lauterbach had an interview with the ARD morning magazine said that in retrospect he saw the duration of the closures of schools and day care centers as unnecessary. The level of knowledge back then was not good enough. He repeated this criticism on Thursday in the ZDF program “Markus Lanz” and became even clearer with regard to other measures.
“What was nonsense, if I can speak so freely, these rules are out there,” said Lauterbach. He was referring, for example, to the temporary ban on going jogging without a mask. “Of course it is clear that there were excesses,” said Lauterbach. The states would have massively overstimulated, especially Bavaria.
Holetschek: Bavaria was a role model
This criticism was not well received by Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek. 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. The country started testing at schools early on in order to be able to guarantee face-to-face teaching.
Overall, Lauterbach’s balance sheet was positive 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, he said on the ZDF program.
Kubicki suggests Lauterbach’s resignation
FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki, whose party is after all a coalition partner with the SPD, sees things completely differently and even suggested that the Federal Health Minister resign. According to Kubicki, the corona policy of the past has failed, especially with children and the elderly. Children were deprived of life chances with the deliberate creation of fear, older people in old people’s homes were treated inhumanely.
Lauterbach was one of those “who helped to exclude critical scientific voices, to stir up panic themselves and to shift the borders of the constitutional state,” writes Kubicki on his Facebook page, also referring to the minister’s appearance on ZDF . “If he thinks he can now get on with the agenda with a ‘spontaneous mentality’, then that would be fatal for the democratic, constitutional and social process of coming to terms with things.”
Schmidt: Call for resignation “absolutely unacceptable”
Asking a minister from your own coalition to resign because he named mistakes in the serious review of the pandemic and drew consequences, said the deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Dagmar Schmidt, “absolutely unacceptable”. “Our patience with Mr. Kubicki’s erroneous comments on corona policy and the fight against the pandemic was already under strain,” said Schmidt.
According to the SPD deputy, Lauterbach is doing everything to implement structural problems in the health system and improvements, especially in the care of children and young people. The health department is currently working on a comprehensive hospital reform. “I expect a clear word from Mr. Lindner and thus a clear signal from the FDP that they still see themselves in a position to place Mr. Kubicki in joint government responsibility.”
The coalition is dedicated to a serious and serious consideration of the pandemic at the technical level. “In the end, we will see that Germany came through the pandemic comparatively well,” said Schmidt.
