Everything looks normal outside: people are finally getting close again at folk festivals, at concerts, in parks, in museums, you can see whole faces, and even shake hands again.

Pandemic, was that what?

The omicron variant of the coronavirus, which has dominated Germany for many months, seems to make the majority of people less sick, even if it spreads like a good gossip story.

Almost everyone knows someone who hardly noticed an infection, only had a slight cold, and was fit again after a few days.

Many of them were only sick in bed for a short time, recovering after weeks at the latest.

All not so bad.

Were it not for a federal health minister recently warning of possible fall killer viruses, or a federal government council of experts outlining looming scenarios of an overburdened healthcare system, optimism might well take over and claim we can escape this vicious virus with a few scratches be.

We came very close to solitude

Is that purposeful optimism or ignorance?

More of a survival instinct, after which you don't want to remain constantly in fear and loneliness and now enjoy the freedom.

Everything that the pandemic has already taught us will remain with us and will benefit us in autumn.

Not just how to sew masks yourself, survive a throat swab without twitching or greet each other with your elbows.

But also the memory of how parents outgrew themselves when they wanted to give their children a wonderful childhood despite masks and restrictions.

How neighbors went shopping for each other, how often people picked up the phone or even their writing pad to send signs of life out into the world.

We came very close to loneliness - and now we are breaking away from it again.

Along the way, we learned so much about spike proteins, aerosols, and mRNA vaccines,

that our biology and chemistry teachers gave us the highest marks afterwards.

Those who were particularly eager regularly listened to the podcast by pandemic experts Sandra Ciesek and Christian Drosten, read everything they could get their hands on online and on paper, and tried to keep up with the rapid developments.

This knowledge stays with us, helps us to understand the latest developments without letting the old panic break out again when reading about monkeypox or a new subvariant of omicron.

to keep up with the rapid developments.

This knowledge stays with us, helps us to understand the latest developments without letting the old panic break out again when reading about monkeypox or a new subvariant of omicron.

to keep up with the rapid developments.

This knowledge stays with us, helps us to understand the latest developments without letting the old panic break out again when reading about monkeypox or a new subvariant of omicron.

Unforgettable was the start of the vaccination campaign in January 2021 in Hesse, when the registration system collapsed digitally and by telephone and neighbors, volunteers and grandchildren spent days trying to get appointments for the grandparents.

Some letters to the editor from that time sounded desperate, expressing fear of the potentially deadly virus.

And it was certainly also fear (along with a certain ruthlessness) that months later made some younger people become bullies with unfair methods in order to be the first to get the vaccine from Biontech or Astra-Zeneca.

The cautious are now all vaccinated, triple is optimal, four times for seniors.

When a new vaccine against omicron is expected to be available in the fall, organizing vaccination sites will be easier and we will know

Anyone who thinks less about what they have learned than about deprivation and renunciation may find it helpful to take a look at history.

The Offenbach medical ethicist Stephan Sahm is convinced that the corona virus would have had catastrophic consequences 100 or 200 years ago.

The restrictions of the pandemic years, the rapid development of several vaccines would have been worthwhile, many deaths would have been prevented.

The fact that the triage could be prevented, that no doctor had to make the decision to only treat those patients who had the best chance of survival, is a great success, says the doctor.

"Responsibility ping-pong" between the federal and state governments

With our new knowledge, with our experiences, with trust in our resilience, are we prepared for the fall?

We can test ourselves before celebrations, we have FFP2 masks with us, we know that air filters, distance or just fewer people in a confined space are good for us.

Nevertheless, people do not always act rationally and sensibly, as smokers, fast-food junkies and all those who lie on the couch too often would grudgingly confirm.