A “new normal” – that was the prophecy during the peak of the corona pandemic for the time after. Now that even the virologist Christian Drosten has stated that the pandemic is over, the afterwards can also dawn for all those who had followed the action-oriented Drosten course in the scientific dispute. The good news: Normality doesn’t have to reinvent itself, everyday life can go back to how it was before Corona.
And yet the majority of Germans are in favor of maintaining measures such as the obligation to wear masks on public transport and the obligation to isolate in the event of an infection. This need for government-mandated protections can be described as Long Covid in spirit. It is probably also the reaction to a government policy – be it that of the previous grand coalition or the current traffic light – which acts in the style of term life insurance: No matter what happens to you, we will take care of it for you! Or in Scholz-speak: “You’ll never walk alone.”
“Living with risks is part of everyday life, even if we are not otherwise aware of it,” the Leopoldina, the National Academy of Sciences, reminded us of this at the very beginning of the pandemic. Now at the latest it is time to become aware of this again. Because there is no safety net and no double bottom for what Germany is facing in the coming years: The country will have to reinvent itself in its labor market, pension and security policies. This requires daring, and that can just as little be decreed by the state as absolute safety from the risks of life.