The contradictions in this law must be corrected as soon as possible

Infection control is a complex matter. The associated law no longer only regulates how a society should deal with well-known, meanwhile mostly controllable infectious diseases such as mumps, measles, rubella, and in case of doubt also plague and cholera.

For a good two years now, the Infection Protection Act has also been pointing the way to dealing with a virus, of which it is still not really clear where it is developing and what damage it will actually cause in the long run - or not. A certain degree of caution and care is therefore still required in the corona pandemic - among each other, but above all with those who bear responsibility.

In this respect, it is correct that the federal and state governments are again arguing about small and large lines in the most recent amendment to this law. Bodo Ramelow, Thuringia's Prime Minister, is quite right when he complains that the federal government's draft law will continue to make compulsory vaccinations for employees in the healthcare sector without any debate.

Under the conditions of the Omicron variant, there is at least a need for discussion as to whether such an authoritarian state requirement is still appropriate in a country in which there is no democratic majority for general corona vaccination.

Schleswig-Holstein's Minister of Education, Karin Prien, is rightly outraged by the unequal treatment of students compared to employees when it comes to compulsory testing. This obvious flaw in the law needs to be corrected as soon as possible - in the interests of children and young people, who have the right not to have to stay at home longer than is absolutely necessary.

There is also a need for correction when it comes to masks. No one can understand why a mask is not needed on a crowded plane with passengers squatting on top of each other for hours, while the lone passenger on a yawning, empty commuter bus has to wear his FFP2 mask even when he gets to the next one station gets off again. Such contradictions, which are based on a communicatively unsuccessful flight by the chancellor's entourage, not only damage the acceptance of infection control, they damage the acceptance of politics as a whole.

Despite these concerns: The Federal Council will pass the Infection Protection Act with a majority on Friday – but that does not mean it is finished.