Three years ago, the first patient in Germany was diagnosed with Covid-19. In the months that followed, the virus, which in all probability came from China, spread around the globe at relentless speed. Governments pulled out all the stops to keep it in check, while scientists worked flat out to develop tests, medicines and vaccines. In the early stages, there were many deaths, hospitals were overwhelmed and political measures to contain the pandemic profoundly affected every area of society. Total lockdowns, a ban on visits to senior citizens’ residences and nursing homes, empty theaters and concert halls, closed schools and universities, short-time work: The burden placed on citizens was huge. Yet to now simply return to normality without stopping to ask what we can learn from this crisis would be a fatal mistake, because this will surely not have been the last pandemic.
Welcome address
- Professor Markus Schwaiger, President of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
- Dr. Katja Wildermuth, Director of Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian state broadcasting company)
Moderation
Andreas Bönte, Deputy Director of Culture at Bayerischer Rundfunk
Participants (excerpt)
- Professor Clemens Fuest (ifo Institute)
- Professor Monika Schnitzer (LMU Munich)
- Professor Lothar H. Wieler (Robert Koch Institute)
- Professor Gerd Schulte-Körne (Munich University Hospital)