With the salami tactic, managers describe a method of having uncomfortably large tasks processed slice by slice. The German corona policy is the salami tactics in extenso. The salami – i.e. the task – is particularly big, the slices are extremely thin – and the speed at which the federal and state governments are reacting to the corona pandemic is excruciatingly slow.
The latest example is the soaring wave of the new Omikron variant. In pre-Christmas senselessness, the country faces the next, looming catastrophe. Words like that should be used sparingly, but the experiences of other countries – such as Great Britain and the Netherlands – are just that: an impending disaster.
The Omikron cases double significantly faster than the infections with the Delta variant. If this happens in Germany, the hospitals could be even more stressed than they already are – although the variant is considered less dangerous.
About two weeks ago, when the first warnings about Omikron were loud, the federal and state governments met for the last time. Some country leaders called for decisive action in advance. However, there were no noteworthy corona resolutions.
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The first Prime Minister’s Conference under new Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was a chat that did not advance the pandemic fight. After all, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wants to ensure that enough vaccine is available in the new year to weaken the possible omicron wave.
The emergency plan is missing
The question is whether that is enough. In the not at all unlikely event that the number of cases and thus the number of severe cases rise again sharply, at least an emergency plan would be needed. The federal and state governments could have set it up weeks ago. However, the traffic light wants to wait for the recommendations of the expert committee, which are to be announced in the coming week. If it comes to the conclusion that the catalog of measures in the Infection Protection Act is no longer sufficient, the traffic light must react. That takes time and won’t be possible before Christmas.
Although there is 3G in the workplace and in train and air traffic, as well as 2G rules in almost all other areas, major events are also limited. For further measures – such as the closure of shops, hotels and schools – the traffic light has to change the Infection Protection Act again and, above all, do a lot of persuading the population. She can certainly still remember the promise that there should no longer be a comprehensive lockdown.
The hesitation and waiting is particularly annoying because there is obviously a systemic problem here – regardless of the urgency and who is in the government. 2021 began with a sluggish vaccination campaign, then tests were scarce, later politicians slept through the booster campaign and the control of the 2G and 3G rules. All of these mistakes ended in a pandemic wave, each more dramatic than the previous one.
More: Call for lockdown measures in Germany is getting louder