The virologist Christian Drosten expects a strong corona wave before December. Even if the courses were easier, this would probably lead to significant work losses, said the director of virology at the Berlin Charité of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Saturday. New virus variants made people sicker again, so that many people could not go to work at all, regardless of isolation regulations.
“Infected people may not go to the hospital, but very many are sick for a week. If there are too many at once, it becomes a problem,” Drosten told the newspaper. At the same time, the virologist asked politicians to make better preparations. Stronger measures would certainly be necessary again, such as the obligation to wear a mask indoors. The political process must be optimized, Drosten demanded, “because in an emergency, immediate and quite drastic decisions are needed”.
The population will probably do the contact reduction themselves. “When people notice that people are getting sick all around them, they might not go out in the evening after all,” said the virologist.
In contrast to previous waves, when measures were necessary because of the full intensive care units and the deaths with incidences of 50, people would find out about many cases of illness in the environment in the expected high incidences in autumn and winter in their circle of acquaintances and at work. That changes behavior, said Drosten.
