Coronavirus variant on the rise Bonn Federal office for disaster protection preparing for Omicron surge
Exklusiv | Berlin · The Omicron variant is on the rise and already prevails in many federal states. Worker shortages could severely affect critical infrastructure. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance thinks that sufficient precautions have been taken.
It was only a matter of time before the Omicron virus variant would also have Germany in its grip. Due to the rapidly increasing number of infected persons, there is concern about workforce shortages in the country’s critical infrastructure - which includes hospitals, the police, fire brigade, ambulance services and utilities. So far, the debate has focused on shortening quarantine times to prevent too many breakdowns. The Bonn-based Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) expressed cautious optimism that sufficient precautions had been taken.
"We have been this pandemic for more than two years, and that also applies to operators of critical infrastructures, so in that respect we are prepared," BBK President Armin Schuster (CDU) told our editorial team. "For years, there has been smooth and close cooperation between the federal government, the states and the companies involved in critical infrastructures, which allows us to effectively adapt pandemic plans depending on the Coronavirus wave. So we have enough time to avoid any major outages caused by different variants," said Schuster.
In coordination with the federal and state governments, the BBK prepares situation reports on the state of critical infrastructures.
However, due to the surge of the Omicron variant, the BBK says bottlenecks in key personnel are a realistic scenario. At present, only the health sector is experiencing a heavy workload that restricts certain functions, the office stated when asked. Developments in the transport and traffic sector need to be monitored as there is a shortage of skilled personnel and supply chains would react sensitively to delays. According to the BBK, the federal and state governments in the crisis team at the Chancellor's Office will discuss the need for action this week. The BBK is part of the crisis team.
Prioritisation within the critical infrastructure
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, this also involves prioritising within the critical infrastructure. A ministry spokesman said on Wednesday that the question under discussion is how to prioritise different areas so that action can be taken if there are bottlenecks. In this context, the BBK refers to the so-called "KRITIS construction kit", which includes methodological basics and addresses prioritisation. The kit contains guidelines that take into account, for example, the impact on life and limb of the population, the scope of possible failures or the interdependencies between different services classified as critical. The BBK emphasises that any prioritisation is the responsibility of the relevant authorities.
(Original: Jana Wolf/Translation: Jean Lennox)
