Blackened passages in RKI documents: Lauterbach denies political interference

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Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD): “There were no political instructions”

Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa

After protocols from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) with many blacked out passages became known, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) rejected any political influence on the institute. "There were no political instructions," said Lauterbach in Berlin. The institute has worked independently and continues to do so. “The Robert Koch Institute is not bound by instructions, politicians do not interfere in the institute’s scientific assessments, neither do I,” says Lauterbach.

The RKI is currently being criticized because of protocols that have become known from the early phase of the pandemic. At the time, the institute was responsible for risk assessment. The countermeasures such as lockdowns, contact bans and curfews, which were intended to help get the virus spread under control, were based on his assessment. There are many blacked out passages in the minutes from the meetings in March 2020 that have become public. A right-wing news block that published the documents suspects that the government at the time exerted external influence on the RKI.

Nothing will be reserved, said Lauterbach. The Minister of Health justifies the redactions in the documents with protective measures. Accordingly, the redactions are mostly RKI employees “who need to be protected from the public.”

The SPD politician was referring to possible incitement or even physical attacks by right-wing extremist people or people from the conspiracy milieu. Even during the pandemic phase, there were repeated attacks and insults against scientists and politicians. At demonstrations by corona deniers, members of the government at the time were shown on the gallows or in prison clothing.

Pushing for a committee of inquiry

The redactions have sparked a new debate in Berlin about how to deal with Corona. The deputy FDP chairman Wolfgang Kubicki demanded complete transparency in the review and made serious accusations: "It is becoming increasingly clear that the Robert Koch Institute for health policy has served as a scientific facade for Jens Spahn and probably also Karl Lauterbach." The left Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) and the AfD pushed for an investigative committee.

Lauterbach now promised a comprehensive review of the pandemic period. A newly formed working group with more than 20 scientists should draw lessons from the past. Lauterbach emphatically praised the work of the RKI as “great”. "Far fewer people have died in Germany than in other countries with a comparably old population," said the Health Minister. The early closures and the requirement to wear an FFP2 mask would also have protected many younger people from the consequences of Long Covid. The RKI’s decisions “saved Germany a lot of suffering.”

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