Corona virus in Germany: disagreement among experts? Medical president demands mouth protection for everyone

Coronavirus: Measures have been ordered in Germany to limit the spread of Covid-19. All developments in the news ticker.

• The corona virus is spreading even more in Germany.
• The number of cases continues to rise in Germany.
• Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus and the previous corona news from Germany in our old ticker. You can also find current case numbers in Germany as a map. The following recommendations for corona protective measures are currently available.

Berlin - Germany still has a relatively low death rate from corona infections compared to other countries, said chief virologist of the Berlin Charité, Christian Drosten * at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday.

This is mainly due to the early and professional diagnostics, which can be used nationwide in Germany thanks to the federal structure of laboratory medicine. According to estimates by the chief virologist, around 500,000 tests for a coronavirus * infection are currently being carried out per week. "The reason why we currently have so few deaths in Germany compared to the number of infected people can be explained sufficiently by the fact that we do a lot of laboratory diagnostics in Germany," Drosten said in Berlin on Thursday.

This view is shared by health minister Jens Spahn , the head of the Robert Koch Institute Lothar Wieler and the chairman of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen. Nevertheless, they speak of around 200,000 tests per week in the separately held federal press conference. Gassen estimates that a total of around 410,000 tests have been carried out since March 9.

The Federal Minister of Health @jensspahn speaks of a "calm before the storm". The burdens on hospitals and medical practices would increase. #Coronavirus # COVID19 #WirvsVirus pic.twitter.com/EK6dMV77QT

Corona virus in Germany: will all be tested soon?

On the question of corona testing, there are different sucking-offs on Wednesday among the experts. Drosten spoke of the subsequent testing of entire population groups that should be addressed and that could be possible within a few weeks using so-called antibody tests. However, Wieler and Spahn focused on the case-oriented and selective testing of people with symptoms in combination with justified suspicion.

In the afternoon, the President of the German Medical Association (BAEK), Klaus Reinhardt , appealed to the population to wear protective masks. "My advice: Get simple protective masks or make your own and wear them in public spaces," said Reinhardt, according to Focus.de . "These masks do not guarantee protection against infection. But they can help a little to reduce the risk of infecting others or getting infected yourself. ”Reinhardt is not the first to demand that all Germans should wear protective masks.

Coronavirus Germany: Health Minister Spahn warns of false hopes

Health Minister Jens Spahn also warned on Thursday about false information about rapid corona tests from China and other countries. All of these tests would be tested. "These tests are not specific enough," said Spahn. So far, the error rate has been too strong. As soon as there was a good rapid test, this would also be used.

Spahn also warned to refrain from exaggerated expectations regarding the decline in the number of new infections. The government's drastic measures had only been in place for three days. Spahn asks that the two-week period be observed to assess the situation.

Corona virus in Germany: The current case numbers

To date, more than 41,300 infections with the new corona virus have been registered in Germany. This emerges from an evaluation of the German Press Agency, which takes into account the reported numbers of the federal states. North Rhine-Westphalia has particularly high numbers with more than 10,800 proven cases, Bavaria with more than 8800 cases and Baden-Württemberg with more than 7200 cases. Based on 100,000 inhabitants, Hamburg has the highest number of infections with 87.7

* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.

nai / dpa

Rubric list image: © AFP / ANNEGRET HILSE