Wieler head of Germany’s COVID-19 agency gets massive death threats

By dpa/NAN

Lothar Wieler, the head of Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s official disease control body, has received massive death threats related to the RKI’s key role in containing the coronavirus pandemic.

“I wish the situation were more pleasant, but I’m still getting threats,” the Berlin professor told the Funke Media Group in remarks for publication on Friday.

Wieler said the threats, including murder threats, “increase massively.

“The threats increase whenever the public schools closure is linked to me or there are allegations that I back lockdowns over freedom.

“This risk does not keep me away from my duties, for as long as I am a civil servant of this state, I will serve it responsibly,” he told the media group.”

Wieler was speaking following controversy over the RKI vaccination figures.

The RKI recently reported that the actual number of vaccinated people was higher than the official statistics and that led to a heated public discussion.

Formerly a professor of microbiology at Berlin’s Free University, Wieler has headed the RKI since 2015.