Children are to suffer badly as a result of Germany’s lockdown policy, with a report describing them as the “biggest losers” in the country post-COVID.
A report into the medical situation in Germany done by health insurance agency Barmer has found that children in the country face substantial risks post-lockdown, with the authors of the document now expecting to see a surge in childhood illnesses in the wake of the pandemic.
The claim follows another report from the country earlier this year which claimed that around three in four children have been left struggling psychologically after the country’s period of on-and-off lockdowns, which ended up being one of the longest-lasting in Europe.
According to the Barmer report, young children in the country are now going to be put in more danger, with the agency expecting a surge in childhood diseases to occur in the wake of the country re-opening.
Experts attribute this coming spike mainly to the lack of infections during the pandemic, with some childhood diseases such as chickenpox seeing case numbers over halved during the lockdown period.
“Children are the big losers of the corona pandemic,” the insurance agency CEO and trained medical doctor Christoph Straub remarked regarding the situation.
“They suffered from many deprivations and today bear the consequences for their health,” he continued. “An impending wave of scarlet fever in school children is just one example of many infectious diseases.”
He went on to say that it was important that Germany learns “the right lessons” in the wake of the COVID pandemic in order to make sure the “negative effects” of the country’s lockdowns are not repeated again.
The Barmer study is only the latest report from inside the country indicating that German children will suffer greatly as a result of the country’s lockdowns, with even those within the country’s progressive government expressing worry about the situation they have left the nation’s youth in.
With it having long been understood that the measures will greatly impact childhood learning for young children hit by the lockdown, more recent studies have revealed the significant psychological effect the draconian restrictions have had on Germany’s youth.
One report published by the government last month found that around 73 per cent of children in the country had been left with some sort of psychological issues as a result of the lockdown, with hitherto pro-lockdown health minister Karl Lauterbach admitting the country’s decision to close schools and childcare facilities early on in the pandemic turned out to be a bad idea.
The damage is not just limited to Germany though. Other countries in Europe and beyond have seen children struggle in a post-lockdown world, with the UK seeing a spike in the number of young people who require speech therapy, seemingly as a result of COVID isolation.
Meanwhile, those involved in childcare in the country have shared multiple anecdotes about children arriving into elementary school unable to say their own name, with some children entering kindergarten without even being properly toilet trained.
“We’ve got children who are still drinking from bottles with teats when they start school,” one headmaster in the country said. “They are four years old and their language will include the word ‘bot-bot’, because that’s their communication for ‘Can I have a drink please?'”
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