The delta variant of coronavirus is dangerous. It is deadly. We have to take precautions. But at the same time, as CSU Secretary General Markus Blume says, after a year and a half into the corona pandemic, a lockdown cannot be the only response of those responsible. Especially since the rampant discontent of the population is already being reported on at length.

There is a gap in different perceptions that needs to be bridged here. Major elections are coming up in September, which will provide information about the credibility of those taking action. They have a lot of catching up to do.Let's just take the Federal Audit Office, a renowned institution. It added to the challenge when it took a critical look at the stated number of intensive care beds. What remains in any case is an unprecedented restriction of civil liberties on the part of the government. The debate about this will (have to) continue, politically and in the highest courts.

However, the lockdown strategy needs a secure foundation in order to be accepted in the long term. After all, neighboring countries in Europe have completely or partially dispensed with lockdowns, have kept schools open, such as Switzerland and France, and are now experiencing similar pandemics.

In Germany, Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) has been critical of the effectiveness of lockdowns. This comes from Bavaria, mind you, where the CSU is in power, led by Markus Söder, who has long supported all tougher measures. And where Söder's secretary general, Blume, now opposes a "lockdown automatic in the fall"..Yes, the delta variant is dangerous. But as Blume explains, "Thanks to comprehensive vaccination protection and mass testing capacities, we should then have other options available."Social, scientific, economic, constitutional, political, in short: holistic - that must be the approach of the search for it. The summer of low incidence offers time and opportunity for this. Delta is not only a term in technology, for example for a measurement deviation. It can also justify one in politics.

Image by Steven Southworth