Jedenfalls besser als nichts: 18/02/21

In yet another COVID-19-related caricature, the artist from the Stuttgarter Zeitung addresses the issue of testing as it comes to play a larger part in everyday life. The man depicted appears to be on his way to work, judging by his clothes, yet he is also wearing a nightcap and his facial expression shows weariness and fatigue. Above his head he is holding a negative COVID-19 test, while the caption reads: 'Better than nothing, at least'.

On one hand, the caricature shows how tests have become more of a norm and are available to ordinary people on a regular basis. My internship in Germany has given me first-hand experience of the changing regulations, which now (since April 2021) require that all employees are offered the opportunity to take two rapid tests per week. This is a huge step, considering that at the beginning of the pandemic, tests were not available to the wider public, and the only tests available for personal use had to be bought from private companies at great personal expense.

However, the caricaturist questions the effectiveness of this development through the flimsy and ineffectual depiction of the piece of paper in comparison to the virus, which here takes the form of large boulders falling from the sky. Certainly, despite the expansion of testing provisions during the first months of 2021, the rate of infection in Germany continued to increase.

If we take the example of daily new cases of COVID-19 in Baden-Württemberg, we see that there were 681 confirmed new cases on 22/03/21, in comparison to 5032 new confirmed cases on 29/04/21. Therefore it seems that wider testing availability alone is not enough to keep the numbers down.

(To see up-to-date statistics on daily cases, go to this source: https://www.bing.com/search?pc=CBHS&ptag=N3212D022720A9DFA1A1FF2&form=CONBDF&conlogo=CT3210127&q=coronavirus+rate+of+infection+stuttgart+2021)

The caricature can also be read in a more abstract sense. Not only does a single negative test fail to stop the virus, it is also ineffectual in protecting the individual from the restrictions and wider impacts of the pandemic. Having a negative test does not exempt individuals from lockdown policies, meaning that they are still just as affected as when they do not have a negative test result.