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WORLD:
Mr. Weil, it has now been exactly a year since the Chinese authorities officially identified a new type of coronavirus called 2019-nCov as the cause of pneumonia, with some fatal outcome.
Do you remember how and where you first heard about it?
Stephan Weil:
No, not with the best will in the world.
But at the time I certainly didn't have the impression that it had anything to do with us.
WORLD:
When did you realize what the appearance of this pathogen means for people's lives?
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Because:
We had the first Corona case in Lower Saxony at the end of February.
In mid-March there was a Prime Minister's Conference with the Chancellor, at which we actually wanted to talk about the energy transition and climate protection.
Instead, Corona was the dominant topic.
There were lectures by Mr. Wieler and Mr. Drosten.
After that, at the latest, it was clear to all participants what was in store for us.
WORLD:
So politics and society have underestimated the virus for far too long?
Because:
yes, of course.
That will have to be said for Lower Saxony, for Germany and Europe, yes, for almost all countries in the world.
We were not well prepared for such a pandemic.
But Germany had some structural advantages that still help us today.
This includes a health system that is quantitatively and qualitatively above average.
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WORLD:
Nevertheless, Germany also mostly lags behind the development of the pandemic.
In your memory, is there a point in time when the course should have been set differently in order to get through the pandemic better?
Because:
There may have been one or the other situation in which we could have acted even faster.
None of us were and are certainly not perfect.
But experience in this pandemic also shows that acceptance among the population is crucial for the effectiveness of the measures.
And the necessary awareness of the problem in society must also be present, especially in the case of drastic measures.
WORLD:
Helge Braun, the head of the Chancellery, names a late date, mid-October.
At that time, the prime ministers would have opposed a stricter lockdown advocated by the Chancellor - which is why we are still stuck in it now.
Is he right?
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Because:
This is part of a buck game that doesn't help anyone.
At that time, the resolutions were passed by mutual agreement and far more than 90 percent of the proposals made by the Chancellery.
All those involved should be committed to this.
Fighting pandemics was, is and will be a joint task.
I also say this consciously as a representative of a country with below-average infection rates from the start.
WORLD:
At the weekend, the Chancellery also criticized the opening of Lower Saxony schools, especially for the final classes.
Is your state too careless at this point?
Because:
As far as I can remember, the final classes were undisputed at the previous conference between the federal and state governments.
And otherwise we act with the necessary caution.
WORLD: In
December you yourself called for the Corona warning app to be configured so that it also uses something.
Has anything happened since then?
Because:
No.
And that is unsatisfactory.
In the past few months - for good reasons - we have had to intervene in so many fundamental rights that I cannot understand why the right to informational self-determination must be an exception.
WORLD:
Why is it that we are not getting anywhere at all?
Because:
The federal government is currently setting other priorities.
At times, the warning app was advertised as a kind of panacea in combating pandemics.
It will not be able to be, but it could certainly make a much greater contribution than before.
"We were not well prepared for such a pandemic"
Source: Martin UK Lengemann / WELT
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WORLD:
Was the topic even addressed at the most recent Prime Minister's Conference, at which other fundamental rights were again drastically restricted?
Because:
No.
There are always new focuses at these meetings.
Last time, the main focus was on the unchanged, far too high number of infections and the additional risk that the virus mutation from Great Britain created.
That clearly dominated the discussion.
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WORLD:
Can it be that politicians get used to this very direct way of governing in the course of this dynamic?
Regulations, appeals, bans?
Because: on
the contrary!
As a citizen and as a politician, I would very much like to see normality back.
It's been grueling times.
But it doesn't help: We are dealing with a persistent and flexible opponent and we have to stay on the ball.
WORLD:
The consequential damage that this type of pandemic fight will have is immense for the foreseeable future.
Economically, but also socially and culturally.
Do you have any idea what is in store for us?
Because:
I suspect that it will take us longer to regain our impartiality in dealing with one another.
I myself have always enjoyed being with many other people and have shaken a lot of hands - unfortunately, Corona will lead to a significant change in behavior in the long term.
WORLD:
What about sports clubs, theater groups, choirs, common ground?
None of this has worked for months.
Is something going to break irretrievably?
Because:
That worries me too.
There are sports clubs that report to me that members are now leaving because they can no longer play their sport.
We will need the solidarity that our clubs stand for even more after Corona than before Corona.
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WORLD:
Another example: Do you now seriously expect children not to meet friends at all?
That certainly cannot go well for long.
Have you overshot the mark at least at this point?
Because:
This is a measure that was very difficult for me.
And yet I stand by it.
Against the background of an impending aggravation through mutations, we are currently operating preventive fire protection.
Children do not contribute to the infection process in particular, but they are also carriers of infection.
So we now had to hopefully only include them in the contact restrictions for a short time.
WORLD:
And what happens if the current shutdown, for example because of the mutations, does not improve the situation in the hospitals either?
Because:
Fortunately, there are still reserves in the health system in Lower Saxony.
But such a situation would of course be an additional escalation.
WORLD:
Would you then have to restrict economic life again?
Because:
I don't want to speculate.
If you look at the numbers from Great Britain or Ireland, which has really been on a very good path, then we have to be very worried.
In spite of all the individually understandable criticism of the companies concerned - which does not leave me behind - everyone must be aware of this background.
I now expect businesses to make consistent use of all home office options.
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WORLD:
At the same time the state coffers are running empty.
Your Bremen colleague Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) is now calling for nationwide burden sharing to cover the pandemic costs.
Do you agree?
Because:
I am sure that the money we are spending now is money well spent.
With our aid programs, we lay the foundation for companies to survive, for jobs to be preserved and for taxes to be paid again later.
The crucial question is how long it will take for the now disused areas of the economy to get going again.
The shorter we keep this period, the better for the state coffers.
We shall see whether and where a load balancing is necessary afterwards.
I expressly share the assessment that there are individual winners in the crisis, such as online retail, who could contribute significantly more to overhead costs.
But we do not have to have this discussion in the middle of the crisis.
"We are fighting for survival because no help arrives"
More and more restaurateurs are getting into financial difficulties because the November aid is not paid out on time.
The delivery and collection business cannot fill this gap.
Source: WORLD
WORLD: In
connection with the costs of the corona crisis, you yourself plead for a permanent suspension of the debt brake.
What period do you have in mind?
Because:
At least I think reform is necessary.
As an avowed realpolitician, however, I know that the two-thirds majorities necessary to suspend the debt brake do not currently exist in parliaments.
Still, I thought it was right.
The debt brake will not move our country forward in the foreseeable future.
WELT:
Last week, your party severely criticized the vaccination management of Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU).
Should the federal government single-handedly have ordered more vaccination doses or at least reserved them from Biontech?
Because:
I believe that the federal government has concentrated on ordering the vaccine together with the other EU countries.
If Germany had gone it alone, it would have caused massive problems, especially in the smaller and poorer countries.
What I still don't understand is why vaccines were and are approved in the EU so much later than in other countries.
WELT:
In Lower Saxony, the vaccination procedure started more slowly than in other federal states.
Why?
Because:
On the one hand, we generally put half of the vaccine aside so that we can guarantee the necessary second vaccination despite the delivery that is not always reliable.
On the other hand, we have set up a decentralized vaccination infrastructure, which took a little longer to start up at the beginning, but which will help us a lot in the longer term.
WORLD:
Your prognosis: Will there still be noticeable restrictions on public life in connection with Corona in a year from now?
Because:
I am very confident that we will be able to vaccinate many millions of people by then.
This will go a long way towards gaining control of the virus as a society and hopefully making the current restrictions a thing of the past.
However, the crises triggered by the pandemic will keep us busy for much longer.