The current pandemic is challenging our society in unprecedented ways, leading to serious ethical conflicts. The German Ethics Council supports the measures currently being taken to contain infections, even though they require great sacrifices from everyone in this country. Restrictions on freedom must, however, be continuously assessed with a view to their manifold social and economic repercussions and be gradually eased as soon as possible. With its Ad hoc Recommendation "Solidarity and Responsibility during the Coronavirus Crisis", published today, the Ethics Council wants to provide ethical guidance for both this difficult balancing process and for the dramatic choices looming in the healthcare system.
