A coordinated response by the healthcare system, powered by the federal government

Germany has stood up relatively well to the ravages of the pandemic. The health crisis has presented an opportunity to showcase the considerable “proactive” means of the healthcare system, but it has also highlighted the difficulties of making them function well. While those difficulties have not given rise to further damage to public health, this is also because the federal system was able to demonstrate a capacity for coordination. Fearing that the system might not withstand a second wave, the federal government has injected considerable funding in order to overcome industrial and social weaknesses.