Germany has recorded roughly the same number of COVID-19 cases as France, Italy, and Spain, but only a small fraction of deaths from the virus. Why is that? Much credit goes to the effective leadership of Angela Merkel, a PhD scientist. Long before the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Germany, Merkel was alerted to the threat of pandemic and, working with hospitals and the scientific community prepared for a rigorous program of PPE procurement, testing, and contact tracing. Back in January, as Donald Trump was ignoring warnings from from US intelligence sources, Dr. Christian Drosten, chief virologist at Charité Hos[ital in Berlin (Drosten is Germany’s Dr. Anthony Fauci), developed a COVID-19 test and posted it online for the world to use. By the time the virus surfaced, Germany had already built up a stockpile of tens of thousands of test kits. This head start is key to Germany’s relative success, according to Drosten:
“The reason why we in Germany have so few deaths at the moment compared to the number of infected can be largely explained by the fact that we are doing an extremely large number of lab diagnoses,”
But it was the chancellor’s honest appraisal of the magnitude of the crisis that gained the trust and cooperation — and the respect — of the German people that ensured the success of the early intervention and containment strategy:
Facing the camera from behind a desk, with both the German and European Union flags to her side, she began on an emotional note, by conceding that “our idea of normality, of public life, social togetherness—all of this is being put to the test as never before.” She emphasized the importance of democracy and of making transparent political decisions and she insisted that any information she shared about the pandemic was based on thorough research. Then, she made reference to her country’s darkest hour. “Since the Second World War,” Merkel said, “there has not been a challenge for our country in which action in a spirit of solidarity on our part was so important.”
What stood out from the address was not so much Merkel’s medical advice, but her unusually direct appeal to the notion of social togetherness and to her own limitations as an individual and as a leader (“I firmly believe that we will pass this test if all citizens genuinely see this as their task”). Her rational assurances and her emotional appeal were crucial at a time of rising panic.
What is also striking about Merkel’s leadership style is that she is not afraid to publicly admit what she does NOT know. This is far different that pushing some miracle drug to give people false hope.
People know “that what they get from both Drosten and Angela Merkel are real and very well-considered facts” and that the two also “share information about what they don’t know.” Because they are “honest with respect to their information,” he said, that information is seen as credible. This honesty, at a time of widespread disinformation, Pries told me, was playing a big role in persuading Germans to largely continue to follow the rules and maintain, even now, “a very calm situation in Germany.”
One benefit of the chancellor’s strong leadership is that her party — the Christian Democrats — has seen a surge of support, while the neo-fascist party — the AfD Alternative for Germany — has experienced a steep decline.