The number of new infections every day is increasing again across Europe, but the Covid-19 situation in Germany still seems to be well controlled.
To find out why Germany is better at controlling Covid-19, Julia Belluz, editor of Vox, spoke with many doctors, health officials, and researchers in Germany and discovered `the secret to success`.
Gunter Froschl, a tropical medicine doctor at the University of Munich and the operator of the leading Covid-19 testing unit in Germany, said that the first factor that helped them cope with Covid-19 was luck.
Froschl was the person who took test samples for 4 of Germany’s first 5 nCoV infections at the end of January. At that time, his fiancee, an infectious disease expert, worked in Brescia, Italy, the epicenter of the epidemic.
The two people called each other every day and Froschl concluded that the only thing that led to the difference in the epidemic situation between the two countries was luck, something they could not control.
Medical staff took Covid-19 test samples for drivers in Halle, eastern Germany in March. Photo: AFP.
The first Covid-19 outbreak in Germany originated from the Webasto auto parts company in the Munich region.
`This person came to us and said ‘I have had a common cold for a few days. I feel fine but one of our Chinese colleagues has been infected with nCoV’,` Froschl recounted.
The fact that this patient came for examination and clearly explained the situation to medical staff helped them to soon localize, identify, trace contacts and isolate other infected cases.
Another lucky factor is that the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology in Munich owns a level three biosafety laboratory, which specializes in handling deadly, highly infectious pathogens.
This means Munich has PCR test kits available when the first patients arrive, helping them quickly confirm cases early.
In Berlin, scientists even created a test kit before China announced the gene sequence of nCoV.
`I always emphasize that we were just lucky,` Froschl said.
However, the key to Germany’s success is not only based on luck, but also the ability to learn and react quickly to new knowledge, according to Belluz.
The outbreak at the Webasto plant has given German doctors and public health officials `valuable experience` in dealing with Covid-19.
Germany also learned more experience in dealing with epidemics from many other countries and territories.
One of Germany’s quick responses is a widespread testing program.
Since May, Germany has increased the number of tests per day from 60,000 to 160,000.
`They always test more people every time they find a new case, which means they don’t have a disruptive response,` said Edouard Mathieu, data manager in France for the Our World in Data Project at Oxford University.
Mathieu added that this helps Germany not waste the effort of an early lockdown, a time when they focused on building a strong testing program to control the pandemic.
Another factor contributing to Germany’s success is the pandemic response at the local level, based on a system of 400 health departments in 16 states.
`A decentralized, local approach to dealing with the pandemic could be a good way to respond to the constantly changing situation,` Savaskan said.
He explained that although local officials still have to report the epidemic situation to Germany’s national health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), they can adjust their local strategies depending on the situation and react quickly.
Although RKI recommends a 14-day quarantine after contact with an infected case, the Berlin government believes that such a quarantine period is too long for residents here and decided to apply a 7-day quarantine policy combined with testing.
`We can apply RKI’s recommendations to suit the needs of people in each locality,` Savaskan said.
When Germany reopened in June, local authorities also regularly contacted businesses to encourage them to coordinate contact tracing.
At the end of September, when outbreaks broke out in a number of bars and nightclubs in Berlin, many German politicians offered to discuss with local health officials to find ways to control the situation.
Savaskan believes that German people put their trust in local public health agencies, because they provide detailed information, close to the actual situation.
A restaurant without customers in Berlin this month.
The final factor that made a difference in Germany’s response to the pandemic was that government officials listened to scientists, according to Clemens-Martin Wendtner, an internist in Munich.
Since February, Wendtner has sent new findings and a detailed assessment of the situation to the head of Bavaria’s health authority on a weekly basis.
`Any information we have from the hospital is shared with officials who decide policy,` he said.
That’s why Germany made wearing masks mandatory in public spaces during the spring and closed schools.
Dr. Wedtner said German people trust politicians because `they don’t lie from the beginning and have built their trust` according to science and don’t deny it.