Germany: Businesses shielded for Omicron

What will happen if there is a technical failure in the electricity and telephone network and the technical staff of the branches is in quarantine? Will the country be paralyzed?

Citizens and the economy will have to spend the second Christmas in the shadow of the pandemic. And resentment, for others despair, can not be hidden so simply. To make matters worse, this year is not a somewhat manageable variant, but for Omicron, which despite the fact that science has not said the last word about the contagion and the range of effects it causes, do not foresee easy weeks and months. The opposite in fact. They give the impression that there is an epidemic of Armageddon in ante portas.

Work in separate groups

Regardless of whether the Kassandres are verified, German companies are concerned and take action. As Handelsblatt notes in an article, companies operating in vital sectors are tightening emergency security measures in the run-up to the fifth wave of the pandemic. But of course there are others who do not lose their temper according to a poll by the same newspaper. In the field of energy, power grid operators are on alert, saying they are taking the situation very seriously and that they are prepared for the worst. To ensure the smooth running of the power supply and without wanting to give further details, they are announcing closer cooperation with all European network operators. EnBW, for example, has tightened measures since early December. To avoid infections and mainly quarantine of employees of entire network surveillance units, the company has divided the shifts into control centers and power stations. The Federal Union for Energy and Water Management announced that its members do not face a greater risk for security of supply than Omicron and this is due to the vaccination of the industry between 80 and 90%. Of course, here too, the vaccines do not respond so well to the new variant, but at least they protect against serious complications, but quarantine is not avoided.

The concern of the banking sector is the resilience of its infrastructure so that the financial system does not collapse. On the outside the banks show that they are well prepared, but inside there are voices of agony. A bank executive in Frankfurt said Omicron was posing new challenges to the industry. “We have to be prepared for the fact that significant parts of the staff may not be able to work.” Handelsblatt’s research among German banks, however, showed that most employees work from home again, with DZ at 85% and Hessen-Thüringen at 90%. This reduces contacts and restricts transmission.

Teleworking saves

Telecommunications companies are pulling the trigger on the pandemic. At first they did not live up to the expectations of consumers, but in the meantime they have found their pace. Emergency plans are part of risk management, there is a Taskforce team that closely monitors epidemiological activity, Telefonica Deutschland reports. Vodafone took care when the pandemic broke out to send all employees to telework. Groups A and B have been set up in security areas to monitor networks and deal with interference. “Our plan is tested for any eventuality, even in terms of security issues,” Vodafone said in a statement. But also at Telekom teleworking is facilitated. Employees who work from the office, work again from home either in terms of infrastructure operation or customer service. For out-of-office technical services, Telekom has set up teams that work independently of each other. As far as possible, employees can cope on their own and have the appropriate protective equipment at their disposal.

In other economic sectors, such as industry, the holidays are saved to some extent. BMW, for example, will resume production at its Wolfsburg headquarters in the first week of January. However, there is no need for special measures. The measures are such as to ensure the best possible protection. Apart from the obligatory mask and the observance of distances, only vaccinated, sick and with a negative test can enter the production rooms. Office workers work from home. Of course, even in the safest contingency plans, vaccination remains the only constant parameter in the Omicron imminent “risk” program.

Irini Anastassopoulou

Source: Deutsche Welle