Published RKI guidelines for corona crisis consultations mainly unedited
Around two months after rumours of external meddling in the Robert Koch Institute's (RKI) coronavirus risk assessment assessment, the institute has made these documents accessible to the public without censorship. The institute made the documents available "for public interest," as revealed on Thursday. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach had previously announced this move in March.
The catalyst for this decision was the publication of protocols from January 2020 to April 2021 by the online platform "Multipolar." This website, which claims to present various social and political viewpoints, has been slammed by critics as being close to conspiracy-theory publications. "Multipolar's" release of these documents was their own response to legal action taken due to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, according to their own account.
Numerous sections had been blacked out in these protocols, which sparked a discussion about the RKI's independence. In a document from March 16, 2020, an earlier redacted portion read: "This week should be escalated. The risk assessment will be published once (censored portion) a trigger for it happens."
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Due to the interest generated by the release of the redacted RKI protocols by the online platform "Multipolar," the Blackening of some sections raised questions about the institute's independence during the Corona crisis counseling. Because of this, the decision was made to publish RKI's guidelines for corona crisis consultations without censorship, as revealed by the Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach earlier, in response to the public's interest.
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