Lauterbach: "Belief that Omikron is the end of the pandemic is naive"

Created: 01/08/2022, 5:05 pm

By: Mark Stoffers

Because of Omikron, the incidence in Lower Saxony is currently increasing despite corona rules and warning level.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach declares "existential danger".

Hanover - It was not until Friday, January 7, 2022, that the Prime Ministers met at the Corona summit to fight the Corona variant Omikron with 2G-Plus in the restaurant as well as Corona resolutions on the earlier free break from the Corona quarantine to announce.

Nationwide, the previous measures have had little effect, because the corona incidence is still on the rise with 336.9 and 55,889 new infections in Germany.

Lower Saxony's corona rules, including a warning level with an extended Christmas rest, also seem to have barely any remedy in the state so far.

Although the virologist Hendrik Streeck was recently cautiously optimistic about a possible end to the Corona, the statements of Christian Drosten and above all Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) seem to be true.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) on Corona in Germany: "The belief that Omikron is the end of the pandemic is naive"

While the virologist Drosten announced last year that “Omikron makes the rules”, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach added another shovel to the current Corona situation in Germany: “The belief that Omikron is the end of the pandemic is naive ", Said the SPD politician Lauterbach to the" Welt am Sonntag ".

Nevertheless, the Federal Minister of Health expects noticeable effects against the corona pandemic in the course of the introduction of a general vaccination requirement, without indulging in the illusion that this will convince everyone in Germany to have the corona vaccination.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach warns that it is naive to think that the pandemic would be over with Omikron- (archive picture) © Hannibal Hanschke |

dpa

“You have to accept that even with the duty you will never reach everyone,” said the SPD politician Lauterbach to “Welt am Sonntag”.

"But I am convinced that there is a large group of unvaccinated people who we can induce to vaccinate by compulsory vaccination."

Karl Lauterbach: Health Minister hopes for protection through mandatory vaccination - "Then everything would start all over again"

Lauterbach was also optimistic about “Welt am Sonntag” that his hope was that society would be relatively well protected by the mandatory vaccination.

“We must no longer find ourselves in a situation in which a summer is deceptively good, but new variants surprise us in autumn - and that without the broad majority of the population having been vaccinated.

Because then everything would start all over again. "

The minister reiterated that the vaccination requirement was necessary despite the lower risk of serious illnesses with the new Omikron variant.

“An omicron infection does not necessarily make you immune to the next virus variant,” emphasized Lauterbach, who, according to his own statements, “as a member of parliament” is working on a proposal for a general vaccination requirement for over-18-year-olds.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach speaks of "existential danger" - if the Corona variant would be "Omikron more deadly"

If all adults were to be vaccinated, one would have a vaccination quota of 86 percent in Germany. Since children have a rather mild Corona course, "we would come to a manageable situation," said Lauterbach. “In any case, we are still very far from such a situation. Imagine for a second that the Omicron variant was significantly more deadly. Then we would be in existential danger now, ”he said. That cannot be ruled out for the future either. Nobody can guarantee that a variant that is much more dangerous will not develop in the near future.

The health minister is very concerned about the situation of corona deniers and vaccination opponents.

“A small group is ready to wipe all scientific findings off the table and voluntarily enter a bubble of pseudo-truths,” von Lauterbach told the “Welt am Sonntag”: “This is indeed a new and frightening development in the post-war history of our country. "

Lower Saxony: Corona rules and warning level do not stop the rising seven-day incidence

While the Federal Minister of Health continues to promote the general compulsory vaccination, Corona and, above all, the Corona variant Omikron are still on the advance in Lower Saxony.

The current corona rules and the warning level have so far been of little help in curbing the seven-day incidence days before school starts.

The incidence in Lower Saxony, like Omikron, is still on the rise.

(Symbol picture) © Moritz Frankenberg |

dpa

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) currently put the incidence in Lower Saxony at 269.3.

The day before, the incidence was 239.8 corona cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The number of registered new infections rose by 4605. The deaths who died with or from Corona increased by 25. Currently, warning level 3 applies nationwide in Lower Saxony.

Corona in Lower Saxony: Four regions have an incidence of over 500

Four regions in Lower Saxony in particular are affected by the high number of new infections.

While Delmenhorst is the leading corona hotspot in the state with an incidence value of 726 (previous day: 665), behind it are the district of Verden with 631 (previous day: 598), the district of Osterholz with 598 (previous day: 408) and the district of Harburg with 527 (Previous day: 497) behind it.

2G-Plus in restaurants: When do the new corona rules apply in Lower Saxony?

In everyday life, the 2G-plus rule takes priority, which also applies in the current Corona rules in Lower Saxony, especially in connection with 2G-Plus in restaurants, provided the owners do not want to reduce the occupancy of their visitors to the restaurant to 70 percent .

Then the 2G rule still applies in restaurants.

Politicians in Hanover around Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) currently see no reason to change anything to the existing corona rules in Lower Saxony, especially because the old corona rules including the Christmas break apply until January 15th.

However, an extension beyond mid-January 2022 has already been promised, whereby stricter corona measures and new corona rules in Lower Saxony cannot be ruled out at the current incidence.

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