Corona continues to spread in Germany: The travel route continues to be a major risk of infection. That is why the Federal Government is now launching harder guns.
- The Federal Government sees a "new situation" for Germany * with the increased occurrence of the corona virus in Italy and new distribution channels in Europe.
- Ministers in NRW and Baden-Württemberg see the situation under control - despite the considerable risk of infection *.
- In the meantime, a crisis team was set up to formulate new rules for dealing with the virus.
Update of February 28, 9.42 p.m .: How can the risk of corona infection while traveling be minimized? How can the virus be contained in general? These questions were dealt with on Friday by a short-term crisis team of the federal government.
The federal government will in future require travel companies to provide information on the health of passengers coming to Germany from a total of five countries. This is intended to limit the spread of the novel corona virus in the Federal Republic. The crisis ministry of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Ministry of Health announced on Friday evening that the regulations for carriers in air and ship traffic would be expanded accordingly. In addition to China , the health status of passengers should be reported for travelers from South Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran before entering the country.
In addition, information on disease prevention should be distributed to all travelers who come to Germany via a national border. According to the information, this regulation also applies to passengers in train and bus traffic.
Update from February 28, March 18: A Eurocity of the Austrian Federal Railway (ÖBB) was also suspected of coronavirus. You can read how an affected passenger experienced the journey from the colleagues at von ovb-online.de *.
Corona virus alarm: Deutsche Bahn is preparing for an emergency
5.42 p.m .: Deutsche Bahn is preparing for a coronavirus outbreak in Germany or wants to do everything possible to prevent it. In a current warning message, the company writes on its website that it recommends the procedure of the German Robert Koch Institute: handkerchiefs should be disposed of quickly and hands washed regularly and thoroughly for at least 20 seconds. In addition, in the case of coughing and sneezing, the mouth and nose should be covered with a bent elbow or tissue. The train asks to refrain from shaking hands or touching its own face .
If a corona is suspected, the affected train area will be blocked and professionally cleaned. Passengers are also informed that they should leave their contact details so that the authorities can contact them if necessary. The top priority is to hand over the sick person to the rescue workers at the next suitable stop and to ensure medical care. There was little risk of infection for passengers who were more than a meter away from the sick person.
Ticket holders of events canceled due to coronavirus can cancel their tickets free of charge , the company said.
3.35 p.m .: The crisis team, which was launched by Federal Minister of the Interior Seehofer and Federal Minister of Health Spahn, is also dealing with the international tourism fair ITB, which is due to start in Berlin on March 4, in connection with the spread of the corona virus . At this fair, health protection and economic interests must be weighed up against each other. In case of doubt, health protection will always be given priority, says Seehofer.
The Federal Minister of the Interior told Wirtschaftswoche "I personally believe that it should not be carried out". However, the final decision, which should be made on Friday on the recommendation of the crisis team, rests with the State of Berlin. Which measures may be taken in a specific case regulates the Infection Protection Act.
In the United States, the fear of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the disease itself. Some US stars are now taking drastic measures to avoid becoming infected. Meanwhile, an expert on Maybrit Illner's corona virus talk (ZDF) lost patience.
Corona virus in Germany: Spahn and Seehofer set up crisis management team - "beginning of an epidemic"
2:11 p.m .: Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn and Federal Interior Minister Horts Seehofer have set up a corona crisis team due to the current situation. The aim of this was to contain the corona virus in Germany as much as possible and to protect the population as much as possible.
Spahn mentions the early identification of corona cases as a central point in order to slow the spread of the virus . The core of the new infections in Germany could still not have been found. Already on Wednesday evening Spahn said: "We are at the beginning of an epidemic in Germany". With this formulation he wanted to prepare the population according to his own statements.
Corona virus in Germany: Seehofer and Spahn provide information - situation in Germany has "worsened significantly"
Federal Interior Minister Seehofer also called for better controls when entering Germany. Due to the increased occurrence of Corona cases, the authorities are taking a closer look at what is happening when entering Germany: People who come to Germany by bus or train, for example, should fill out special "drop-out cards", said Seehofer on Thursday in Berlin. This is to ensure that those who have come in can be contacted if a corona case occurs.
The situation has "worsened significantly," said Seehofer. The interior minister stressed that it was an "incipient epidemic" and added: "There will also be a further upward trend."
9.41 a.m .: Virologists are now also urgently warning against further spread of the coronavirus . Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, virologist at the University of Hamburg, sees it as unlikely that the spread of the virus can still be stopped in Germany. Prof. Rolf Hilgenfeld, director of the Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Lübeck, also confirmed this assessment to Bild.de (behind the payment barrier). According to Schmidt-Chanasit, only the tip of the iceberg is currently visible because probably many people carry the virus without showing any symptoms. Harvard epidemiologist Pablo Salazar told Zeit Online: "If the virus is transmitted very easily and usually goes undetected, there is probably not much we can do - even in countries that are well prepared for outbreaks."
Coronavirus: virologist warns of spread - a pandemic could occur
Experts are worried, according to Zeit Online, that countries such as Thailand or Combodia with a lot of direct contact with China have shown few infections. This could be an indication that there are already more infection chains than known. Zeit Online describes three scenarios: A pandemic could occur in which 60 to 80 percent of the world's population is infected and hundreds of thousands would die. The second option: the virus could eventually go dead because more people overcome the disease than infect it again. The third - and currently probably the most realistic scenario - for Gérard Krause, Head of Epidemiology at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, is that the virus will behave like normal flu with seasonal fluctuations.
Update of February 27, 6:38 a.m .: Minister of Health Jens Spahn chose drastic words regarding the corona virus . Germany is "at the beginning of a coronavirus epidemic," he said in Berlin on Wednesday. He called on citizens to be vigilant , but at the same time warned against scaremongering . "We recommend the population not to suspect a corona infection after every cough."
However, Spahn explicitly urged citizens “to call your family doctor and clarify treatment if fever, cough, or shortness of breath develop within 14 days of traveling to areas with infection - or if you have had contact with people who have been in these areas ”. Spahn discussed his call on Wednesday at a crisis meeting with representatives of the medical profession, hospitals, health insurance companies, pharmacies and nursing associations. It was agreed that "it is now better to test the virus once more than once too little".
Corona virus in Germany: Minister of Health Spahn chooses clear words
Announcement of origin from February 26th
Berlin / Düsseldorf / Stuttgart - At various press conferences, authorities swore on Wednesday to keep people in Germany calm. The situation regarding the coronavirus * is currently under control - the infected people are isolated, possible distribution channels are being analyzed and contact persons are being identified and - if necessary - placed under domestic quarantine.
The big advantage is that one does not have to deal with undetected circulating infection chains, but with individual cases, the distribution of which could be traced.
But even if panic and fear are certainly not good advice, some experts paint a picture that makes you listen. Karl Lauterbach, health expert at the SPD , points out three weak points in the German health system:
The three weaknesses of our health care system are the number of nurses, general practitioners and doctors in health offices. Therefore, we are honestly not well prepared for a strong Covid outbreak. No preparation changes anything https://t.co/Zmoc7qHrxH
- Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) February 26, 2020The number of nurses, family doctors and doctors in health offices is too small for a strong outbreak of Covid-19 , as the corona virus is now known by experts, according to Lauterbach.
Corona virus in Germany: experts argue - Spahn becomes clear
With the strengthening of the virus in some neighboring countries, the federal government also sees a "new situation", as government spokesman Seibert is quoted by tagesschau.de. The virus has come closer, said Seibert in Berlin.
"The corona epidemic has arrived in Germany," said Spahn on ZDF. "And we have to reckon with the fact that it can also spread in Germany." In ZDF today, he said that the chains of distribution had so far been controlled. But: "It may be that we will find ourselves in a different situation in the next few days and weeks."
Then it could look completely different. The cases in Italy have shown that democratic countries are now struggling to contain the virus, writes Die Zeit.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Spahn said that Germany was "at the beginning of a coronavirus epidemic" *. In a conference call, he called on the health ministers of the federal states to "activate their pandemic plans and prepare for their possible entry into force," Spahn said in Berlin on Wednesday. "The situation has changed in the past few hours, unfortunately you have to say that," added the minister. No pandemic has yet broken out - "but I think it's important that we prepare for this situation".
Against the background of the new corona virus cases * in Germany, it is "questionable" whether the previous strategy of the authorities is working - that is, to limit the virus * and to interrupt the infection chains. It has been shown that the "infection chains are sometimes not understandable," said Spahn. "This is the new quality." He added: "The likelihood that this epidemic will pass Germany will not arise."
The first case of the corona virus in Germany came from Stockdorf near Munich. The man who is considered to be the first infected has now spoken about the time with the disease.
Coronavirus: Virologist raises the alarm in daily topics
Alexander Kekulé, virologist at the University Clinic in Halle, raised the alarm in the daily topics: "If we have 100, 200, 300 cases, the hospitals in Germany are overwhelmed". The high infection centers , which currently still treat all patients, would only have 60 places in total - throughout Germany.
For the staff in normal hospitals , treating coronavirus patients is a major psychological burden. He has no understanding for measures such as stopping trains or sealing off borders because there are too many distribution channels - the aim is to quickly identify individual cases within the country and "to quit a smoldering cigarette before it causes a forest fire ."
* ovb-online.de and merkur.de are part of the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editors network.
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List of rubric lists: © dpa / Marijan Murat