The Scapegoat: Science and Politics Collide in the Battle against COVID-19
Drosten sought out the broader public on his own. At first, he spoke daily, now twice a week, on his podcast about the latest developments from the world of scientific institutes and laboratories. Sober, patient, at times with mind-numbing meticulousness, he broke down newly published studies from China, Iceland or the U.S. And when Drosten, the expert, spoke of “rates of attack,” “confidence intervals” and “specificity,” millions of people listened to him.
In addition, he is active on Twitter and appears on talk shows and in TV interviews. In no time at all, Drosten has become a star. The celebrity magazine Gala wrote about him. And BILD stalked him.
But because he didn’t just become a star, but also a political figure, he’s now at the mercy of the political public. This is important in a democracy. Everything must be able to be criticized, doubted and debated.
The pitfalls inherent to this public were something the Bonn-based virologist Hendrik Streeck experienced first-hand. In early April, he published the preliminary results of his field study, “Covid-19 Case Cluster Study,” which he conducted in the town of Gangelt in Heinsberg, a district in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia that was home to one of the first outbreaks of the virus in Germany.
Streeck presented the study along with the state’s governor, Armin Laschet, who had argued for restrictions on public life to be relaxed more quickly and felt validated by the study’s results. The same day, Christian Drosten took part in a press conference at the Science Media Center and voiced reservations about Streeck’s study.
Drosten cited, among other things, statistical inconsistencies. For instance, he said “the distribution to households” had not been clarified. He also criticized the rapid publication of the study in a provisional form. “Even if it hasn’t been subjected to peer review, a summary must at least be presented in manuscript form before giving it to the broader public and to politicians. Otherwise you have a situation like right now, where you simply don’t know anything.”
The magazine Capital accused Streeck of following a script from the agency Storymachine in the publication of the Heinsberg study. Kai Diekmann, the former editor-in-chief of the BILD, is a co-founder of Storymachine.
Criticism of Streeck grew and his impartiality as a scientist was called into question. Then the podcast he did on scientific questions about coronavirus research for the German public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk got cancelled.
On May 4, Streeck published the final results of the Heinsberg study, which closely mirrored the preliminary results. Though there were no more scientific reservations, the study continued to be known as the “controversial Heinsberg study.” The relationship with Storymachine was a mistake, Streeck now says. During a parliamentary hearing for the state health committee in North Rhine-Westphalia, Streeck said the whole thing “had gone poorly.” When it came time to present the final results of the study, Laschet was not in attendance.
Confirmation Bias
“Politicians also exploit science,” says Lauterbach, the member of parliament who is also an epidemiologist and healthcare economist. He studied at Harvard and spent 35 years as a professor at the University of Cologne.
As an example, Lauterbach cites the expert testimonies in the German parliament that are an integral part of the lawmaking process. There, the political parties generally invite scientists from whom they can expect support. “Scientists are often used by politicians to provide a basis for the positions they already hold.” That’s likely what Laschet did with Streeck.
Before Lauterbach became a politician and got elected to the Bundestag in 2005, he was often invited to testify himself as an expert, usually by the Social Democrats or the Greens. For the most part, he found the process frustrating. “That’s why I found it more effective to get involved directly in politics. This way, I can assert the scientific arguments without anything getting in my way.”