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How dangerous are the new virus mutations?
Should there be easing for vaccinated people?
How is Trump to be assessed in retrospect?
And who will be the CDU's candidate for chancellor?
These questions were discussed on Wednesday evening at “Maischberger.
The week".
Guests were Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CDU), albeit only virtually, as well as science presenter Ranga Yogeshwar and political scientist Gesine Schwan (SPD).
The journalists Susanne Gaschke (WELT) and Ulrike Herrmann (taz) as well as cabaret artist Michael Mittermeier commented on the topics of the week.
Who was missing in the round: an expert with a medical background.
The reproach of the evening
"Welcome to this program in which - as the Prime Minister of Bavaria said, Mr. Mittermeier - everyone is stressed, everyone is annoyed.
Is it you too? ”Asks Maischberger.
“Yes, of course,” replies cabaret artist Michael Mittermeier.
Since November, the pandemic has felt very protracted due to the back and forth in politics.
He lacks a clear line.
In the first wave, however, he felt that he was in good hands with Markus Söder's pandemic management in Bavaria.
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As taz journalist Ulrike Herrmann explains, Merkel is for a harder lockdown.
The lack of a clear line is due to the Prime Minister.
However, the less strict rules mean that a lot of time is wasted.
The question of the evening
A new movement calls for "Zero Covid" - zero corona cases.
But is that even possible?
WELT journalist Susanne Gaschke says, after it has not worked to protect the old people's homes, one can imagine that Zero Covid is "naturally great nonsense".
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Science moderator Ranga Yogeshwar, on the other hand, rates the movement positively.
With the knowledge of how the pandemic developed, such a strategy would have made sense as early as spring 2020.
The question remains how the coming year will go.
The duel of the evening
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How strict should the lockdown be, what aim should it pursue?
Commentators disagree on this issue.
Since 45 percent of children go to daycare in Berlin, the current situation cannot be called lockdown, criticizes Herrmann.
It is no surprise that the number of cases is high.
“But the fixation on the number of infections is a purely political question,” Gaschke points out.
“In principle, it is not a bad thing when young people get this disease without symptoms.” And Mittermeier replies, “You can't say that either.” He knows young people who now suffer from long-term consequences.
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The tough criterion is ultimately dead or alive, says Gaschke.
She is also for no cancer and no traffic accidents, i.e. causes of death that are not taken care of as much as Covid-19.
Herrmann counters with the argument of excess mortality.
The comparison of the evening
Are the new virus mutations more dangerous?
Maischberger science presenter Ranga Yogeshwar asks this question.
"What you just have to realize is that this new variant, 1.1.7, is simply much more infectious," he replies.
It doesn't make us sicker, but it does make a greater number of people sick than the original coronavirus.
This leads to more deaths.
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"Please explain to us what happened there," Maischberger asks him.
And Yogeshwar explains: At the docking points, on the illustrations the spikes in the virus crown, small changes happen randomly with every increase.
With B 1.1.7 there were now several changes at once, which makes it more contagious.
The laugh of the evening
There have rarely been funny moments on talk shows since the beginning of the corona pandemic.
But in an interview with the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, Maischberger causes amusement by asking him questions that he - actually - can only answer with yes or no.
“Is Molly coming to Berlin with you?” Asks the presenter about Söder's new dog.
And he just spontaneously changes his standard answer to questions from the Chancellor: "Molly's place is in Bavaria."
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The sentence that then follows - that the CDU chairman normally has the right of initiative - journalist Herrmann analyzes a few minutes later: Laschet has poorer poll results than Söder, which means that the members of the Bundestag are dependent on Söder to keep their offices .
Laschet will not be able to oppose his own party, will travel to Munich at some point and tell Söder: You have to be a candidate for chancellor.
Laschet is currently 35 percent, Söder 54 percent.
The argument of the evening
On Wednesday, Donald Trump's tenure ended and the new President Joe Biden was sworn in.
“Do you think we'll hear from him?” Asks Maischberger.
"If not from him, then certainly from the people he helped instigate and represent," replies Gaschke.
The corresponding political forces persisted even without Trump.
In the end, were we lucky that it was only Trump and no one who really planned a coup? Maischberger asks.
And Herrmann agrees.
The USA was ripe for a right-wing populist president.
However, no American Putin or Erdogan would have been available.
"The world was so lucky with Trump, that doesn't exist."
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What can Germany learn from this?
“How do you deal with those with whom politics has a bad reputation?” Asks Maischberger individual guest Gesine Schwan.
She believes that we, aggressive people, “have to offer a chance that they can have an impact in their living environment, that they understand what politics really is.” Experiencing one's own effectiveness has such a great effect that people are less susceptible for "charlatans like Trump".