- You're going to do a proper corona treatment.
Every crisis brings opportunities. This holds true for the COVID-19 pandemic as well. I'm not talking about the profits of mask hoarders or the unexpected fame of numerous scientists and conspiracy theorists. I'm talking about opportunities for progress that we should seize, but are currently squandering together. We're upset, we argue, but we're not tackling the big issues that are out there. Is this already digital dementia or just simple apathy?
One of the biggest issues is our shoddy preparation for another event of this magnitude (hopefully it will take that long!). For the next pandemic, we should really know what we want. Plans existed in 2020, but practical experience and thoughts on securing the well-being of all population groups were lacking. Now we have all this knowledge, but future preparedness is not being taken seriously again. Do we hate learning? Are we only living for the chatter of the moment?
Meanwhile, various strange viruses have appeared in the news: monkeypox, Nipah, Oropouche, usually in an infotainment style. None have become pandemic (avian flu has serious prospects). One might almost believe that the constant threat of an epidemic in the globalized world has already been pushed aside. Demands for a real reckoning with the COVID-19 era are therefore fully justified. However, in everyday communication, the harmful patterns of degenerated debate culture repeat themselves like the daily greeting of the groundhog: clowning around, smoke bombs, and political distractions. The summer theater around the "RKI protocols" is a silly charade. Pseudo-revealers construct a scandal out of possibly only administratively interesting files, which only obscures the deeper problems. Simpletons become their touched, but often enthusiastic cheerleaders.
Current COVID-19 situation: Good news
The real challenges lie deeper and require more effort. So why not roll up our sleeves now? At the current time, threats from the virus seem hardly acute. Since calendar week 31, which ended on August 4, the COVID-19 wave has been stagnant. Doctor's visits for respiratory illnesses have decreased, and the viral load detected in wastewater has been stable. The virus is present, still causes long COVID, and vaccinations are still recommended for many of us. However, COVID-19 now only accounts for 19% of respiratory illnesses. The omicron variant is dominant again and rarely leads to severe cases. Intensive care medicine is back to normal.
But would this temporary all-clear comfort you if you were at the peak of the crisis at 14 or 15 years old, forced to move and since then without friends? Depressed for eight months (average duration of illness among adolescents) but without a therapy spot? New infections among 5-17 year-olds increased by 8% for depression, possibly also underdiagnosed due to the pandemic. Obesity in children and adolescents increased by 11% in frequency.
The under-supply of anxiety disorders and the deterioration of the social situation of children from low-income families was also striking. Internships disappeared, sports clubs fell into crisis. Worldwide, people under 25 showed the highest values for loneliness, an enormous risk factor for all dimensions of health.
Let's talk about reckoning like mature citizens!
Does this alarm us? Are we interested in a more social politics for younger people? Do we demand a real modernization of schools? No! Instead, paranoid nonsense for imaginary investigative committees and the progress-stunting fetish politics of ultra-orthodox debt-brakers. Empathy is carefully avoided, instead there are shallow excitement incitements and C-list celebrity babble about alleged laziness of Generation Z. Some 50-year-olds genuinely believe they "built the country" and still argue on Facebook about Chinese biotech labs with red faces.
This is what moral decay looks like. This is how we learn nothing, and the next disaster could be a clone of the last.
Fortunately, there are people who don't give up and create truly important knowledge. Last Sunday, for instance, researchers led by Australian Megan Lim published a large international study on how social contacts can succeed under pandemic conditions. They found that young people invested additional time in strong relationships during the plague time. However, weaker connections suffered, which is alarming because it threatens what we call our social network. The many acquaintances that matter when you need help with specific problems, job mediation and opportunities, stimulation and ideas. Especially young people cannot thrive without this network.
By now, it is recognized that school closures should be avoided as much as possible. Responsible parties admit: it shouldn't have happened like this. But that's not nearly enough. Sustainable investments in the education sector are needed. Instead, debates are held about mobile phone bans on school grounds, moralizing and trivializing.
Every crisis offers opportunities, but we're squandering a very profound one. We need, to put it bluntly, a structured debate about what our dream pandemic should look like. Constructive, with lots of empathy and as little bullshit as possible. Because Corona was certainly not our last test.
The following is added to the ongoing conversation: The publication of the international study by researchers led by Australian Megan Lim highlights an opportunity we've overlooked during the pandemic. They found that young people invested additional time in strong relationships, but weaker connections suffered, which is alarming. This underscores the importance of our social network, especially for young people, and it's crucial that we acknowledge and address this issue moving forward.
Furthermore, in light of the squandered opportunities during the COVID-19 crisis, it's essential that we engage in a structured debate about our dream pandemic scenario. We need to prioritize constructive discussions with empathy and minimal bullshit, as Corona was not our last test, and future crises are inevitable.
