Six weeks ago, Franziska Giffey (43, SPD) was magnificently inducted into the office of Governing Mayor of Berlin – and continued on the same day to the Corona crisis meeting in the Chancellery.
The virus dominates Giffey’s everyday work, because with an incidence of 1829, Berlin has the highest number of cases in the country. Nevertheless, the head of government seems optimistic when we meet her in her office for an interview.
BILD am Sonntag: Ms. Giffey, you govern Germany’s corona capital. What else helps against the omicron wave?
Franziska Giffey: “We can’t stop the wave, we can only slow it down. The major challenge in this phase of the pandemic is to maintain basic supplies for the population. This is only possible if the corona-related absences from work in the critical infrastructure, for example in the health system, in the water and electricity works or in local public transport, remain low.
How many staff are currently missing?
Giffey: “We are currently recording an average staff shortage of 15 percent. We can compensate for failures of this magnitude by reorganizing or by reducing the offer somewhat. If the bus no longer comes every five but every ten minutes, that’s annoying, but not life-threatening.”
According to the RKI, the new infections will triple in the coming weeks and with them the failures…
Giffey: “We are prepared for a staff shortage of up to 30 percent. We are still a long way from that, but it is possible that we will exceed this mark in a few weeks. Should it happen in areas of the most elementary basic care that we can no longer maintain operations with healthy staff alone, we must consider more serious measures. Then it is an option for those who are infected, but who have no symptoms, to continue to work in certain areas in exceptional cases.
And then what about the risk of infection?
Giffey: “We are seeing that more and more people who have been vaccinated are still falling ill, but with very mild courses or with no symptoms at all. These people could still go to work in some areas. Such a work quarantine can of course only be implemented under strict protective measures: Anyone who operates a machine alone in the waterworks or who extinguishes a fire at the fire brigade can do so without major problems with a symptom-free corona infection. The situation is different for people who deal with patients in the hospital or in nursing.”
Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/berlin-am-vergangenen-freitag-franziska-giffey-spd-schaut-vor-beginn-der-ersten-session-zur-grund- 17072815d9174397b876cb4fa37fc795-78983852/image/2.image.jpg”/> Berlin last Friday: Franziska Giffey (SPD) looks at the press photographers before the start of the first meeting to found an alliance for new housingPhoto: Paul Zinken/dpa
How is that supposed to look like?
Giffey: “I can only imagine that symptom-free people who have tested positive will come to work in an extreme emergency and under the strictest protective measures. But we are not at that point and I also hope that we will not reach it.”
If the infections increase so dramatically: Do shops, restaurants and schools have to be closed again?
Giffey: “I don’t want there to be a lockdown. And I don’t see any basis for such a tightening either, because there are no signs of the intensive care units being overloaded. On the contrary: We hear the urgent request from the hospitals that we keep daycare centers and schools open so that the care of the children of the employees can continue to be ensured.
But why did Berlin suspend compulsory attendance in schools?
Giffey: “Because there are parents who want to decide for themselves whether their child continues to go to school if there is a positive corona case in the class. We must take these concerns seriously. But the schools remain open. The children are protected, tested and cared for. And the children who stay at home get homework sent to them.”
Children in particular who grow up in social hotspots then fall backwards again during lessons at home.
Giffey: “My clear appeal is: keep sending your child to school. I also continue to send my son to school. School is important. After the winter holidays, in early February, the children are tested five times a week. You wear a mask all day. We do everything to ensure that schools are safe places. Experiences from Brandenburg show that around two to five percent of parents keep their children at home. The first queries in Berlin show a similar picture.”
Is Omicron the way out of the pandemic?
Giffey: “The omicron wave is currently teaching us how to maintain public life as far as possible despite the high number of infections. No further tightening, but no loosening at the moment either. Once the wave has peaked, the return to normal phase must begin. The coronavirus will remain, but it will become manageable, like the flu virus, for example. The sentence: “I have Corona” will then sound like the sentence today: “I caught a flu infection.” Despite all the caution that is still necessary now, at some point we will have to get over our fears.”
Berlin has a vaccination rate of 76.7 percent. Who doesn’t get vaccinated?
Giffey: “Most of the unvaccinated people are in the intensive care unit at the Charité. Most of them are not opposed to vaccination. They told their doctors that they had missed the vaccination or wanted to wait a little longer out of concern. In my estimation, we could still reach about half of the 20 percent unvaccinated with a lot of persuasion. But I think the other half is firmly against the vaccine.”
What’s the point of having to vaccinate?
Giffey: “Especially those who have missed it so far and think: “Oh, as long as I don’t have to, I won’t do it either”, we then reach with the vaccination requirement. But don’t fool yourself: Even if vaccination is compulsory, not everyone will be vaccinated. When in doubt, the big opponents of vaccination prefer to pay a fine. After all, nobody will be vaccinated by the state under duress against their will.”
Does the state have to strictly control compulsory vaccination?
Giffey: “Full-coverage, constant controls are simply not feasible. We may only agree on control measures that we can also manage with our resources and that are relatively “
Because you noted that the vaccination rate among migrants is lower, the Green Youth and Jusos have accused you of racism. Is that annoying?
Giffey: “Yes. I find that unspeakable. The migrant associations themselves told us about the language barriers. We have to face the fact that there are people living in Berlin who do not understand German well and cannot be reached through our normal information channels. It doesn’t help these people at all if we don’t look for other ways out of false consideration. I am the governing mayor of all Berliners, I have to take care of problems and not cover them with a cloak of silence.”