The escalation at the Persian Gulf is producing an eerie echo of the Covid-19 pandemic in European healthcare. Der Spiegel reports that critical medical supplies — particularly disposable gloves and protective gowns — are at risk of running short in Germany. Key petrochemical feedstocks used to manufacture these items pass through the now-disrupted shipping lanes. Hospitals and clinics face what the outlet calls a “dangerous déjà vu” from the coronavirus era, when similar shortages left healthcare workers scrambling for basic protective equipment.
The crisis is also fuelling a politically charged debate inside Germany. Minister Katherina Reiche and her advisers are pushing for domestic gas extraction via fracking — a practice long effectively banned in the country on environmental grounds. Proponents say modern techniques have minimised environmental risks, but the proposal remains deeply contentious. Meanwhile, Germany’s Bundeswehr and police forces conducted nationwide counter-terrorism exercises (codenamed “Getex 2026”) near military barracks, a sign that Berlin is taking the security dimensions of the conflict seriously.