Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Rostock's mayor in an interview
"Have to find a way with Corona"
Rostock is known as a "cold spot" – the city has one of the lowest incidence values in all of Germany. In the podcast "Die Stunden Null", Lord Mayor Claus Ruhe Madsen explains what makes his city different and how his past as an entrepreneur has helped him during the crisis.
While almost all cities and districts are struggling with high numbers of infections, Rostock has managed to maintain relatively low values. The Hanseatic city is one of the few orange spots on the Corona map of Germany – the current seven-day incidence there is below the critical limit of 50. "It's a mixture of always being behind, never giving up and basically expanding the health department," says Lord Mayor Claus Ruhe Madsen in the podcast "The Zero Hour".
He closed Rostock's schools earlier than other regions, ordered home offices, and canceled events. The native Dane, who moved into the Rostock town hall as a non-party in 2019, is not afraid of quick, unbureaucratic decisions. He had to repeatedly fight against resistance from federal and state politics.
Corona management in Germany lacks long-term prospects, says Madsen. Politicians have failed to make provisions for dealing with the next wave in the quieter summer months. "I can't sit back and say it's going quite well, on the contrary. Then we have to get up here every morning and deliver another mission."
There is no looking ahead. "You very often find that hardly anyone is concerned with tomorrow. Administration manages and rightly so and looks a lot backwards." The seven-day incidence value? "It's a look back that doesn't help us at all. We are driving at 300 km / h and look in the rear-view mirror."
Before his time as mayor, the 48-year-old managed a furniture store chain and was president of the Rostock Chamber of Commerce and Industry for many years. His entrepreneurial thinking now benefits him in the Corona crisis: "What do I have to do today so that tomorrow will be as I imagine it to be?"
Many politicians, says Madsen, are afraid to go ahead and make bold decisions. The accusation that you haven't done everything is constantly lurking. Only: "Maximum demands, maximum closures, maximum security" cannot be a permanent solution. "We have to find a way with Corona. We don't talk for two weeks. We talk, if we're lucky, for two months or maybe even longer."
Instead of a rigorous lockdown, Madsen advocates tracking contacts more efficiently, testing more and sticking to hygiene concepts. Then one could also open cultural institutions, sports facilities and retail outlets. "Rostock is very happy to be a pilot," said Madsen.
In the new episode of "Die Stunden Null" you hear how Rostock's Lord Mayor set up a test center for 5,000 people in six hours and what Germany can learn from its Danish neighbors.
You can find all the episodes of "The Zero Hour" directly at Audio Now, Apple or Spotify or via Google.
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