Whe has a very big task ahead of him would do well to break it down into small parts. Everyone who understands something about big tasks, from risk researchers to cake bakers, advises you that. The good thing is that this not only makes things easier, but usually also faster. This is how it works with the huge task of dealing with a pandemic. There can be no master plan for this. It takes many small steps. However, they must be set. And unfortunately they often aren’t.
An example of this is the handling of the corona self-tests. These are now available in pharmacies and drugstores everywhere. Anyone can test themselves, and many want to. Either because they have symptoms. Or even though they don’t have one. For many, especially in the big cities, the Corona app has been glowing deep red for weeks. That means there was closer contact with infected people.
So it makes sense to test yourself when you go back to work the next day or bring the child to daycare or, because there is still life beyond duties, when you want to go to the restaurant. If you feel ill, you really want to know what’s going on. So here people are trying to gain a knowledge that will help control the pandemic. And who helps them?
“May take some time” – just why?
One problem they need help with is that not all self-tests are good enough to detect the omicron variant. That in itself is unfortunate when you consider that oat milk, for example, cannot be sold as oat milk because it is not milk. While the consumer is informed here in detail that he is dealing with a replacement product and not an udder product, he has to read up on the corona tests himself, which gives him a false sense of security. After all, the Paul Ehrlich Institute has published a list that indicates the reliability of more than two hundred antigen tests.
It’s just an endlessly long PDF document, and when you read it, the font size is a grain of sand, and your eyes flicker with names, abbreviations and numbers. And that on the giant screen. When shopping, only the cell phone remains.
In fact, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced at the beginning of January that he would remedy the situation. The Paul Ehrlich Institute should compile a “positive list” with all reliable tests. However, that will take “some time”. Why actually? Couldn’t it just be quick? In fact, within a few days, the voluntary IT collective “Zerforschung” developed the Schnelltesttest.de website. It is based on the data from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut and works very simply: Scan the barcode on the test packaging or type in the name and the result is there. This is not a quantum leap in the fight against the pandemic. But it is a small step that is taken from the citizen on a rocky road.
The citizen would do well to help; Politicians alone cannot end Corona. But what the app developers from “Zerforschung” write on their website is true: “In 2022, digitization must be thought of as part of public services.” Again, these are many small steps. But they have to be made.
#Pandemic #management #quickly