The chief virologist of the Berlin Charité, Christian Drosten, believes that wearing masks in the current phase of the corona pandemic is no longer as effective as it used to be. “The mask won’t be as efficient anymore,” Drosten said on Thursday. Since the masks are only worn once, they hardly play a role in controlling the overall transmission of the coronavirus.
Drosten said in the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) podcast “Coronavirus Update” that the high immunity of the population is the reason why there is currently a relative calm in the corona situation. “It contributes the most to containment.”
Virologist: Masks on the train still make sense for vulnerable people
Despite this assessment, Drosten was not in favor of lifting the mask requirement on trains. This is still useful to protect the so-called vulnerable groups. People in this group, who are at extra risk of illnesses caused by the coronavirus, would be better protected if not only they, but also their counterparts, wore a face mask.
It is therefore a “good social thought” to enforce the mask obligation on trains, Drosten said. The virologist also spoke out against lifting all political guidelines. If the weather gets difficult, it makes sense to have measures in place.
“Certain danger” from virus spread in China
Drosten sees “a certain fundamental danger” in the explosive spread of the coronavirus in China. There is currently no evidence that the coronavirus in China is changing in such a way that it can evade human immunity. However, due to its widespread distribution, it currently has the opportunity to come up with new solutions to bypass human immunity. Therefore, the situation is “unpredictable”. Drosten said, “We’ll see in a few weeks if anything new has emerged.”
Clarification of the statement on the end of the pandemic
Drosten also called his frequently heard statement about the end of the pandemic at the end of 2022 a misunderstanding. In the interview at the time, he actually said something different from what was received by parts of the public, the Charité professor described in the podcast ‘Coronavirus Update’ on NDR-Info. “What I said is: I expect the coming winter wave to become more of an endemic wave (…) and then the pandemic will be over.” only afterwards – so after this wave.
On reading some media and politicians after declaring the pandemic over, he said: “I think everyone who has heard me communicate so far knows that I don’t actually say such investigative things in public.” He could only say what he expects: “That we will say in a few months’ time: in retrospect, that was the first endemic wave of this virus, and with that the pandemic is over.”
Statements from a Tagesspiegel interview with Drosten also led to political calls for further relaxation shortly before the turn of the year. The newspaper quoted him at the end of December as saying: “We are experiencing the first endemic wave of SARS-CoV-2 this winter, in my opinion the pandemic is over.” He added: That means that after this winter there will be such a broad and resilient population immunity, “that the virus will barely get through in the summer.”
Source: Krone
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