BERLIN (LifeSiteNews) — The German government has told its citizens that stocking 10 days’ worth of food and necessities “makes sense” in view of COVID-19 and ongoing tensions with Russia.
“If we’re actually left without electricity for some time or if daily life is affected in any other way, then it definitely makes sense to have an emergency supply at home,” Germany’s interior minister Nancy Faeser told the Handelsblatt newspaper during an interview last Sunday.
“Think, for instance, of a cyber-attack on critical infrastructures,” Faeser said.
The German minister said COVID-19 as well as the war in Ukraine showed the necessity of making “civil protection” a “high priority” in Germany and added that she wanted to have the civil defense sirens tested nationwide on the same day.
“Current events are making it clear to us that we have significant room for improvement in the field of civil protection,” Fraeser told the Handelsblatt.
“We have to get up to speed in this area in order to cope with the many crises we are facing – pandemics, climate change, threats of war.”
Faeser stressed the importance of “protective measures” as well as “food stocks” and “medical supplies,” and referred to a guide published by the German Federal Office for Civil Protection.
The Guide to Emergency Preparedness and Correct Action in Emergency Situations, states that during events like floods, blackouts, or storms, there is a risk that food will be hard to come by.
According to the Guide, citizens should ensure that they are able to survive 10 days without having to go shopping thanks to a sufficient supply of food and water.
The recommendation of the German government to its citizens comes amidst escalating tensions between Germany and Russia over the war in Ukraine, as well as repeated warnings from the country’s health minister Karl Lauterbach that a “killer-variant” of COVID-19 is “entirely possible.”