Name? Christian Drosten
Westphalian identity? German
Age? 48
Why do we care? Drosten and a colleague decoded the SARS Virus of 2003 and developed the first test for Covid-19. You could consider him an expert and we like experts, if it is not only one group of experts making decisions but a wide range of experts after a thoughtful discourse. Which is exactly what our new friend Christian is advocating for. He is saying that until Easter, the current measures need to stay. But what happens after? That has to be drawn out by experts…mathematicians, sociologists, psychologists, economists, academics and more. Because virologists do not understand society, they understand viri. That is why we like him, he is honest and more importantly, agrees with us that all experts must be considered in a time of crisis, not just the most popular ones.
Why should you care? What do you see on this table from today? While all countries rank among the highest in cases reported, Germany has the lowest number of total deaths. This is due to multiple statistical factors but also due to Drosten’s early warning. Hospitals had their pandemic plans activated long before the virus actually hit and were prepared for the situation at hand.
Who else cares? Maybe the rest of the world in quarantine. The status quo cannot continue for months to come, our economy and our living standards will not be able to survive if 470 million people in the EU are locked away. We need a plan for the aftermath of the quarantine and one of the leading virologists has just told us who to invite to work on it.
Any further comments? Do you know about similar people in your country that we should cover? Let us know in the contact form at the bottom of this page.
