The real story behind Germany’s corona success.
BERLIN — No one’s ever accused Germans of modesty.
Whether the subject is das Auto, beer or nude sunbathing, Germans take deep pride in knowing they’ve got an edge on the rest of us.
It might be time to add virus-fighting to the list.
As the world has struggled to cope with the pandemic, Germany is basking in an international glow for being the only major Western democracy to more or less get things right.
Though it has a large number of infections (about 160,000), the country’s death rate is nearly 60 percent lower than in the U.S. and 85 percent lower than in Spain. At a time when medical personnel in New York have resorted to wearing ski goggles and trash bags for protection while treating Covid-19 patients, German hospitals have been a comparatively well-equipped sea of calm (though not without certain protests). In recent days, the country has brought the pace of new infections down enough to slowly lift restrictions. It’s even planning to open up intensive care capacity to non-corona patients.
International media have been quick to search for the secret to Germany’s corona success, especially outlets in the hard-hit U.S. and U.K. Was it the quality of German health care, the ubiquity of testing (which makes it easier to quickly isolate cases and trace infections), the fact that the infected in Germany were mostly young people? Or all of the above?
The New York Times offered its own novel theory: “The chancellor’s mixture of calm reassurance and clear-eyed realism.” The Atlantic, a U.S.-based political magazine, doubled-down on the theme: “The chancellor’s rigor in collating information, her honesty in stating what is not yet known, and her composure are paying off.”
If Angela Merkel (aka the “leader of the free world” in some circles) was the darling of the West’s left-leaning elites before corona, she may well end up enjoying Gandhi-like status by the time the droplets settle.
Her modest appearance, monotone speech and academic air have made her the perfect foil to the daily buffoonery emanating from the White House and No. 10 Downing Street.
With the situation in both the U.S. and Britain getting more grotesque by the day, Merkel has to do little more than show up in order to shine.
Back when Boris Johnson was shaking every hand in sight while preaching “herd immunity,” and Donald Trump declared coronavirus a “hoax” perpetuated by his political enemies, Merkel, the sober scientist, was urging caution and preparing for the worst.
At least that’s how the legend goes.
In truth, Merkel was caught just as off-guard as most world leaders. Her wake-up call came on March 8, when the Italian government was forced to put the wealthy northern part of the country under quarantine. Prior to that, Merkel had said almost nothing about the outbreak.
To her credit, Merkel thrives in times of crisis, especially when it comes to negotiating a consensus, whether between EU member countries or Germany’s often-fractious regions.
Nonetheless, there’s a more prosaic explanation for Germany’s low death rate and mild outbreak that has nothing to do with testing capacity, a surplus of intensive care beds or astute leadership — dumb luck.
By the time the pandemic slammed northern Italy with full force, Germany had yet to impose any restrictions on the public, in contrast to countries such as Austria and Spain.
At that point, Germany had only a fraction of the cases that Italy did, however. That gave Berlin a head start of at least two weeks to prepare for (and prevent) the worst.
And that’s exactly what it did.
With graphic pictures of the crisis in Italy streaming into German homes every day, it wasn’t difficult to convince people of the gravity of the situation. In the weeks that followed, the public accepted both the unprecedented restrictions on their freedom as well as the government’s lavish emergency spending proposals without protest.
So, while the quality health care system and German efficiency may have played a role, the mere fact that Germany had ample warning — and heeded it — made all the difference.
That may be why most Germans aren’t bragging.
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As the world has struggled to cope with the pandemic, Germany is basking in an international glow for being the only major Western democracy to more or less get things right https://t.co/JNhW0Sbav0
— POLITICO (@politico) April 29, 2020
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