States react differently to a virus than people.

If a person survives an infection, the virus leaves behind an immune system that lasts for a long time.

The body produces antibodies.

This could also be the case in the state, because the healthcare system, the government apparatus and the population learn from the situation and become more efficient.

A state can also build up defenses if it is worth enough money and effort to those responsible.

But that's not always the case, at least not in this country.

Germany would not be well prepared for the next pandemic in many areas.

Justus Bender

Editor in the politics of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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Lucy Schmidt

Editor in the "Life" department of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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The most banal example is the masks.

When the pandemic started, they were in short supply because the Chinese were serving the domestic market first.

To solve the problem, there were grants for German mask manufacturers.

In 2021, an entire industry was created that was able to supply Germany, even an industry association was founded.

It organizes 74 manufacturers who could produce more than four billion masks a year.

But they hardly get any orders because the manufacturers in China are cheaper.

The German state also buys in China instead of promoting domestic industry.

The CDU health politician Erwin Rüddel recognizes a pattern: "In the greatest need, people say that Europe must be independent.

Once the greatest need has been overcome, the cheapest place to order is again, in case of doubt in China”.

The German mask industry is dying

This year there were only two major orders from the public sector, one from the state of Baden-Württemberg and one from the Berlin police.

The Berlin police not only wanted cheap masks, but ones that cause little CO2 during transport.

The local industry had an advantage there.

Without such allocation rules, it lies fallow and dies.

Companies will soon be selling their expensive machines again.

If Germany wants to buy masks in China again in the next pandemic, there can be many reasons why China does not deliver.

The warehouses are quickly empty, Shanghai is back in lockdown.

Masks would again be in short supply, but we don't just need them for this particular virus.

We live in a “pandemic age”, as the Bremen epidemiologist Hajo Zeeb says.

It will become increasingly common for pathogens to spread from wildlife to humans, simply because the planet is so densely populated.

We're getting on the fur of wild animals, and because global society is so interconnected, any virus spreads across the globe at lightning speed.

SARS came from civets, H1N1 from pigs, H5N1 from birds, MERS from dromedaries, SARS-CoV-2 from pangolins and bats and now monkeypox probably from rodents.

Viruses that spread via aerosols are particularly advantageous because they are more effective than a smear infection or contact with infected blood.

The Covid-19 pandemic will not be the last to require masks.

At the moment there is another big argument about a mask requirement in autumn.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann from the FDP only wants to talk about it when reports are available that prove the benefits.

Scientists have long shown that masks protect against infection.

They are inexpensive and restrict the freedom of the mask wearer only slightly.

The scientists were initially skeptical, like Buschmann.

They didn't believe in the effectiveness of masks, but that was a mistake at the beginning of the pandemic, they say so openly today.