Lauterbach calls for the resignation of the medical president Reinhardt because of statements about everyday masks
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, doubts the usefulness of everyday masks in combating the corona pandemic. He was not convinced of the everyday masks “because there is no actual scientific evidence that they are actually helpful,” he said on the ZDF talk show “Markus Lanz” on Wednesday evening. “Least of all in self-protection and probably very little in the protection of infecting others.” In connection with the Mask requirement said the medic at one point of one “Masking requirement”.
The SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach described this in a tweet as “inexcusable” for the “highest ranking German medical officer”. “In my opinion, a reason to resign if he does not take it back immediately,” he wrote.
The President of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler, spoke out in the morning in view of the increasing corona numbers for an extensive mask requirement in Germany. On the question of where something could really be achieved, Wieler said on Thursday at a press conference in Berlin: “So it is compulsory to wear a mask in the rooms where you can get infected. ”Wieler mentioned local public transport and shops – where this already applies – as well as interiors where many people gather. His recommendation is to wear a mask “in areas where people come together, especially indoors, very clearly”.
Reinhardt had also said that he believed that mouth and nose protection could be worn where the distance could not be maintained, for example in local public transport or in rooms where one was necessarily close together. When it came to wearing it in the fresh air, he said: “I think that will be of little use.” In some places, the mask requirement was also made on busy public streets and squares where there is not enough space for everyone to keep their distance.
For all other people, it applies that in all situations in which a sufficient distance cannot be maintained, for example in closed rooms or in local public transport, “It makes sense to wear mouth and nose protection. Although this is not a reliable protection against one’s own infection, it helps to protect others by mechanically reducing the spread of aerosols. (dpa, Tsp)
