Fifth pandemic anniversary
Webasto boss remembers the first Corona case: “Shock”
It was only five years ago, and in the uninterrupted series of crises it already feels like the distant past: the beginning of the corona pandemic in Germany.
Five years ago, the first confirmed corona infection in Germany hit an employee of the Bavarian automotive supplier Webasto – but no one suspected the extent of the impending global pandemic. “I think I’m not the only one who at that point in time didn’t even remotely expect the enormous dimensions that the infection would take on worldwide in the following months,” recalls Webasto CEO Holger Engelmann.
The first news of a new lung disease emerging in China spread at the end of 2019. Webasto management was in the know early on, as the company operates several locations in China. “I was on a business trip to China at the beginning of January and visited several plants with colleagues from management,” says the Webasto boss. “But when shortly afterwards a Chinese colleague who had come to our headquarters in Stockdorf for a project tested positive after returning home in China, it was a shock.”
“Patient 1” on January 27, 2020
Late in the evening of January 27th, the Bavarian Ministry of Health finally reported the first confirmed corona infection in Germany. It hit a then 33-year-old employee who had attended a company seminar with his Chinese colleague. “Patient 1” does not want to comment anymore today. “We don’t know whether it was really the first infection in Germany, but it was the first officially reported,” says Engelmann. “For us as a company, my management team and me personally, this was an absolutely exceptional situation. Since little was known about the virus at the time, there was great uncertainty.”
Company headquarters temporarily closed
In the following days, other employees and some relatives became ill. In consultation with the authorities, the Webasto board decided to close the company headquarters for a good two weeks and send the entire workforce to work from home. “It was very special to realize that the health of more than 14,000 employees depended on every decision from now on,” says Engelmann. “This is a completely different dimension of responsibility for a manager.”
In the very first phase of the pandemic in January and February, only nine German and two Chinese Webasto employees were infected, all of whom recovered, as well as some family members. The headquarters reopened on February 12, 2020. It wasn’t until March 2020 that the first Germany-wide lockdown followed, which paralyzed not only Webasto but almost all of public life for several weeks.
It was a difficult time for those who caught the corona pathogen in the very first phase, as well as for their relatives. All infected people were taken to hospitals and their families were quarantined.
There was a whole range of reactions, from strange to unpleasant, says a Webasto spokeswoman. “People were afraid of the unknown, dangerous virus.” The personal rejection and exclusion that not only employees but also their families experienced “was difficult for many to cope with.”
Webasto employees are still being addressed today
The pandemic finally ended in spring 2023. “Many employees report again and again that the memory of the first official corona cases in Germany is still very present in the public,” says the company spokeswoman. “As soon as they mention where they work in their private lives, for example, there is a corresponding reaction. Most people recognize that we handled the situation responsibly and also reported openly about what was happening with us.”
dpa
Source: Stern
