Of course, the fact that the passengers in Olaf Scholz's government plane did not have to wear a mask plays a minor role in the infection process.
The delegation trip to Canada will not be followed by a fulminant late summer wave, especially since all fellow travelers were tested.
And yet the pictures of Economics Minister Robert Habeck sitting in the cabin without a face mask are significant.
They stand for the ever-increasing level of disorder that has characterized Corona politics since the traffic light took over government.
The fact that Air Force passengers are allowed to remove their masks on board, but not Lufthansa passengers, is another contradiction in the history of corona communication, which is not exactly poor in breaking points.
Official chaos?
Should the federal cabinet confirm the draft of the new Infection Protection Act this Wednesday, the chaos would become official.
The question of who has to wear masks and when and how this should be controlled is one of the criticisms of the draft.
This, in turn, comes mainly in the form of a compromise between two ministers of different stripes, Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Marco Buschmann (FDP).
Should it become necessary to take action against the virus again in winter, both would be dependent on the citizens going along with them.
That is the real dilemma of the traffic light: You can only convince people who trust you.