Due to the corona pandemic, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has extended the National Pandemic Plan of the Federal Republic of Germany. The National Pandemic Plan was first presented in Germany in 2005. Initially, it was intended to ward off influenza pandemics. However, it is applicable to other types of infectious diseases as well. It now contains the steps that the federal and state governments are taking against the corona pandemic. The successive and partly overlapping phases are called containment, protection (of vulnerable groups) and mitigation. At present, the RKI is still recommending measures of the first phase, which is containment. It is still a matter of identifying infected people and isolating them and their environment so they do not infect other people with the virus. If the virus keeps infecting more people and it’s spread cannot be contained in the long term, protective measures will have to be taken for certain people. In this phase, persons and groups at high risk of serious illness will be protected. In this case one speaks of “vulnerable” groups. If the infection spreads even further, the aim will be to minimize negative effects on the community and social life. But first and foremost, provisions will then be ensured.
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Impressionen zum Leben in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie: Foto: tünews INTERNATIONAL; Mostafa Elyasian, 19.3.2020
