In social networks, in the queue in front of the supermarket, in the television studio, in YouTube and in the media, in Germany and in Bulgaria – the thesis that the coronation crisis is just an exaggerated panic of all humanity is present everywhere. The coronavirus is no worse than any previous flu and if it wasn’t for the mass tests, no one would have noticed it, says Dr. Wolfgang Vodarg, one of the most frequently quoted skeptics. Vodarg is a pulmonologist, formerly a member of the Bundestag of the GSDP and a board member of Transparency International in Germany, but according to an expert report by ARD journalists, a number of facts are deliberately omitted or silenced in his reports.
His reassuring allegations are too good to be true, writes Zuddeutz Zeitung, who sought the expert opinion of virologist George Bornkam.
“But the current virus is not at all comparable to the previous one,” says Bornkam, who said such a comparison is like “between shark and sprat”. The professor objected to his colleague especially on another point: “The thesis that a pandemic would not exist if there were not so many tests done is absolutely irresistible.”
In an interview with Züddeutsche Zeitung, Wolfgang Wodarg states exactly that: the virus would not impress anyone unless it was searched for in a deliberate way. too little is known for the coronavirus to be able to judge what measures are necessary and adequate.
He is one of the first to say that the cause of the panic is nothing but mass tests. Fighting the disease may cause more harm than good, says Ioannidis, and illustrate his claim with the metaphor of an elephant who was frightened by a kitten and fell into the abyss. Depression and anxiety neuroses will increase and patients with other illnesses will not receive adequate therapy, he warns.
Yes, at the moment no one can tell yet how dangerous the coronavirus is, Professor Borkham agrees. And it is difficult to predict how many people will die simply because there is no immunity against COVID-19 so far, the expert adds.
Experts like Wodarg and Ioannidis, who consider the danger exaggerated and the measures excessive, are right in one thing: we still know too little about the virus, writes Zuddeutz Zeitung. But he recalls that, nevertheless, the policy was forced to take immediate action so that it would not be too late.
Mark Lipsic of the Harvard School of Public Health cites two proven facts in a summary of these disputes. First, the number of serious cases is increasing rapidly in all countries where the virus has spread. And secondly, without the pandemic control measures, the consequences would be dire. Who waits too long risks collapse of all health care, says Lipsic.
According to ARD experts, all theories about the harmlessness of the epidemic have already been refuted by reality. The media recalls, for example, that until recently, a number of homeopaths in Germany heralded a quick victory over the coronavirus – according to their estimates, as early as the end of March. Indeed, other skeptics also “disprove” the evidence. For example, that the tragedy in Northern Italy is due solely to poor Italian health care, or that there are no patient influx in German hospitals, and intensive care units are almost empty – just such claims spread “eyewitnesses” who argue with their own observations and conversations with other “eyewitnesses” ends “Deutsche Welle”.