German Bundestag considers COVID-19 inquiry

It was one of the biggest challenges since World War II, and not just for the German government. In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the suspension of some basic rights and lockdowns around the world. Schools, kindergartens, and many businesses were forced to close temporarily. And once vaccines finally became available in mid-2021, there was tremendous public pressure to make sure everyone was vaccinated.

Now, four years later, there is a debate underway in Germany about how to come to terms with this intense period and the political decisions that were made. Many politicians are calling for an "Enquête-Commission," a committee appointed by the Bundestag, consisting of members of parliament and experts, which would eventually present its findings publicly.

Jens Spahn and the question of forgiveness

Jens Spahn, Angela Merkel's health minister during the pandemic and a senior figure in the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), knew that the pandemic would have lasting consequences when he said in the Bundestag in April 2020: "In a few months' time, we will probably have a lot to forgive each other for."

Indeed, the negative effects of the pandemic are still being felt today. Many people still suffer from the debilitating symptoms of long-COVID, and many businesses, especially small ones, never survived the lockdown. And there is almost unanimous agreement among politicians that they were too strict, especially with children and young people.

One such politician is Janosch Dahmen, a doctor and member of parliament for the Green Party. "On the whole, Germany fared well during the pandemic, considering its very old population," he told DW. "The very strict measures taken during the first wave, when there was no vaccination and too little protective equipment, were particularly instrumental in saving lives."

Dahmen also pointed out that numerous research institutions, including bodies such as the German Ethics Council, have already taken stock of the pandemic in numerous reports. He believes that it would make little sense for the Bundestag to set up yet another committee: "Neither an Enquête-Commission or a Special Committee, which doesn't include experts, would be the right instrument at the moment," he said. "It would primarily be misused by political parties to score points. That wouldn't help anyone."

What do people think today about the pandemic, which according to official statistics has so far resulted in 39 million infections and almost 183,000 deaths in Germany? Last week, DW conducted interviews on the streets of Berlin, asking what went well and what went wrong during the pandemic.

"It was a difficult situation, so there was probably no one right solution. Decisions had to be made," one man, Mr. Weidinger, said. "But I thought that total isolation and confinement at home was too harsh." Most of all, Jacquelina remembered the hostility between those who opposed vaccination and those who supported it: "People who didn't allow themselves to be vaccinated, which included me, were put through a lot publicly and portrayed as conspiracy theorists."

Neyran, meanwhile, is still angry that many people, including politicians, made a fortune during the pandemic, for example in the frantic search for millions of masks: "There was so much scheming and too much hiding. A lot of people made a lot of money, but what can be done about it now? I think an investigation would just be throwing a lot of money away again. And for what purpose?"

Leading politicians call for a public appraisal

Current Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a Social Democrat, has said he wouldn't want to hinder an evaluation process, and Economy Minister Robert Habeck has also said he could also warm to the idea: "I don't think it's slanderous at all to say that the pandemic needs to be reviewed and reassessed," the Green Party politician said in Berlin.

Michael Kretschmer, the Christian Democrat state premier of Saxony, remembers how any criticism of the hardline course taken by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel was considered unacceptable: "I got so much scorn from the other parties when I tried to talk to those who were critical at the time. It was clear to me that there can't be just one opinion in a democracy."

For Malu Dreyer, state premier of Rhineland-Palatinate, it was the young and the elderly who suffered the most in the pandemic, far too much: "With the knowledge we have today, I think we can say that in our efforts to protect human life, we asked too much of children and young people in particular, as well as those at the end of their lives who were unable to say goodbye to their loved ones due to contact restrictions," she said recently.

If Germany does indeed begin to examine the lessons of the pandemic, it will be one of the first countries to do so. And one thing is already certain: The disruption caused by COVID-19 was far greater elsewhere. Just over two weeks ago, the UN Development Program (UNDP) presented a report in Berlin that also discussed the impact of the pandemic, particularly on the world's poorest countries. Presenting the report, UNDP Director Achim Steiner said: "Since the shock of COVID, which turned economies and societies upside down, we have made progress overall. But more than half of the world's poorest countries are not recovering. They are stuck at pre-crisis levels, and in some cases have even fallen behind."

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