Monday April 12, 2021
“The ball has to roll again”
DFB sees no aerosol risk with amateurs
After the aerosol researchers’ plea for outdoor activities, sports associations smell morning air. Amateur football must be allowed again immediately, says the DFB. The FDP can also warm up to it. However, the SPD health expert Lauterbach vigorously objects.
Sports associations have responded to an open letter from the Society for Aerosol Research (GAeF) to Chancellor Angela Merkel and demanded more opportunities for exercise in the open air. “The statements of the Society for Aerosol Research strengthen us in the position that we have clearly represented for months,” said Rainer Koch, the Vice President of the German Football Association responsible for amateur sports. “The fear of amateur football as a corona driver is unfounded.”
In its letter to the Chancellor on Sunday, the GAeF criticized the fact that “to this day, the essential findings of our research work had not been translated into practical action”. “Instead, more symbolic measures such as the requirement to wear a mask when jogging are issued, which do not have any noticeable impact on the infection process.” Almost without exception, the virus is transmitted indoors, the researchers emphasized. “Outdoor broadcasts are extremely rare.”
“We have the diagnosis and we have the prescription. The ball has to roll again,” said Koch. Organized club sport, with its structures and proven hygiene concepts, offers a very important anchor without being a source of pandemic risk. “This open letter from the aerosol researchers underlines what we have been saying for a long time: Open the sports fields and give our clubs the opportunity to enable amateur athletes of all ages – at least outdoors – to do their sport again,” said Christian Dahms, Secretary General of the State Sports Association of Saxony. the ARD sports show. “The clubs have developed their concepts and are able to direct, observe and also control the behavior of their athletes.”
FDP for relaxation in the open air, Lauterbach against it
The FDP health expert Andrew Ullmann also called for the corona rules to be relaxed outdoors. “If the minimum distance is observed, I think it makes sense to lift all contact restrictions outside,” he told the newspaper “Die Welt”. SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach, on the other hand, does not believe in the proposal made by his fellow politician. “I think it is wrong to meet outside with more than one household,” he said, referring to the risk of infection from droplets. “Also, there’s a good chance the meeting will start outside and then end inside.”
The chief physician of the German Athletics Association was also critical. “Of course, as a physician from the sports sector, I would also be happy if the sports fields were reopened for everyone in view of such research results,” said Andrew Lichtenberg of the ARD sports show. “But it cannot be denied that the new mutants known to date of the virus are more aggressive and the risk of infection among younger people has increased.” This has to be taken seriously and you can’t just open everything and let it go.
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