The Corona statistics from the Robert Koch Institute show that the district is developing positively. There are few deaths. The measures were apparently successful.
Landkreis - In the Miesbach district, 25 people have tested positive for the corona virus in the past seven days. This means that the district is well below the limit of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, from which the federal and state governments require new restrictions. A look at the statistics of the Robert Koch Institute reveals that the former Corona hotspot has also developed into a model student in other areas.
The current situation
The current situation is better than the infection numbers show. Eleven cases from the past seven days are residents of an old people's home in Schliersee. They are well insulated, they will not infect anyone. In the rest of the district, only 14 people have been infected with corona in the past seven days. For comparison: 160 tests were positive in the last seven days of March. Compared to the neighboring counties, Miesbach is in the middle: in front of the Rosenheim district (28 positive tests in seven days per 100,000 inhabitants), but behind the Munich (14) and Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen (3) counties.
The easing
The easing decided by the state government comes at the right time for the district, Dr. Florian Meier (45), medical doctor in the district of Miesbach. When we talk to the Miesbacher, he is on the way to meeting the Corona crisis team at the district office. "There should be loosening," he says. "Otherwise people will no longer accept it." Especially the permission to leave the house without a valid reason helps so that people do not ignore the rules.
Dr. Florian Meier, medical doctor in the district
The emergency brake
If the district falls above the 50 mark, it is still open what limits the crisis team will impose. The crisis management team is currently working on a concept and clarifying which legal options and requirements are available, said district spokeswoman Sophie Stadler. For example, it is conceivable to only be allowed to leave the house again with good reason or to limit visits to risk groups such as in a retirement home, says Meier. But the shops are safe: "I do not think that the district is starting to close shops."
Meier expects some leeway when it comes to the limits: "If the cases occur in isolation in one facility, I would not set any limits." He would use the statistics to remove the infections in the two Schliersee social facilities. This would put the district far from the 50 infection limit.
Few dead
For every 100,000 inhabitants, more than eight times as many people died in connection with the coronavirus in the district of Rosenheim as in the district of Miesbach. Why is that? "We don't know," says Meier. The comparison with countries like Italy is fundamentally limp because of different population structures and health systems. Nobody can explain why the numbers are so different between neighboring counties.
What could play a role: In the Miesbach district, fewer than half as many people in the risk group over 60 years of 100,000 inhabitants suffer from Corona than in the Rosenheim district. The ban on visits to retirement homes imposed here early could have helped. "In Miesbach, it was mainly people between 35 and 50 who got infected on a skiing holiday," says Meier. "People are healthier at this age."
The Bavaria comparison
One of the surprising consequences: Although since the pandemic in Miesbach began, significantly more people per 100,000 inhabitants have tested positive for Corona than the Bavarian average (543 to 332), fewer than half as many people died in connection with the virus in Miesbach : There were only seven deaths here, an average of 15 people per 100,000 inhabitants throughout Bavaria.
Hotspot?
Was Miesbach really a corona hotspot? Although the numbers of those who tested positive for 100,000 inhabitants were initially in the top 10 throughout Germany, this does not necessarily mean that more people were ill here. The district tested a lot early, with general practitioners and in the test tent in Miesbach, says Meier. Although that raised the initial numbers, it also saved lives. The doctors could have treated the sick before they developed critical symptoms.
What's next?
For Meier, the next two weeks will decide whether the district will maintain the success achieved. Since there will probably be a lot of tourists flocking to the area for the first time at the weekend, he recalls the basics of fighting viruses: "Wash your hands regularly, cough in the crook of your arm and distance, distance, distance."