The government's corona summit made it clear: the lockdown will remain in place, but many corona rules will be relaxed.
To the displeasure of health expert Lauterbach.
The news ticker.
The federal and state corona summit took place on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.
Medical associations warn against uncoordinated easing of the Corona * measures in Germany.
For SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach, the resolutions go too far (update from March 4, 10:10 a.m.)
This news ticker is updated regularly.
Update from March 4, 4:04 p.m
.: For the first time, the export of corona vaccines from the European Union to a third country has been stopped by the new export controls.
Italy prevented the export of 250,000 doses of vaccine from the British-Swedish manufacturer AstraZeneca to Australia, as EU circles confirmed on Thursday.
The
Financial Times
reported on it first.
Update from March 4, 2:43 p.m
.: "There is currently significantly less PCR testing in Germany than at the beginning of 2021," said the Robert Koch Institute * (RKI) in its current Covid-19 situation report from Wednesday evening.
"The proportion of those who tested positive in all PCR tests carried out (positive quota) was 6.1 percent of the tests recorded in week 8/2021."
According to RKI calculations, the theoretical maximum PCR test capacity is 2,317,339 PCR corona tests that can be carried out per week.
Less than half - 1,135,355 - were carried out in the 8th calendar week (February 22nd to 28th).
The number of tests can also include multiple testing of patients, according to the RKI.
Late registrations are also possible.
In some laboratories there is also a sample backlog.
Almost 4,000 samples still have to be examined.
Dozens name delivery problems, with "mainly pipette tips and plastic consumables."
+
RKI graphic: Number of SARS-CoV-2 tests in Germany (as of March 3, 2021, 12 noon);
KW = calendar week
© RKI graphic screenshot
Corona in Germany: Stiko changes recommendation for AstraZeneca vaccine
Update from March 4, 1:15 p.m
.: The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) of the Robert Koch Institute now recommends the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged 65 and over.
“This is good news for any elderly person waiting to be vaccinated.
You can be vaccinated faster, ”said Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) on Thursday in Berlin.
So far, due to a lack of scientific data, the Stiko had only recommended the administration of the vaccine to people under 65;
the same was done.
Update from March 4, 11:40 a.m.: In
view of the opening schedule of the federal and state governments in the pandemic, intensive care physicians assume a significant increase in corona cases.
"I expect that we will see a significant increase in the number of new infections due to the opening scenarios that have been decided - and then also more intensive care patients with Covid-19," said the President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (Divi), Gernot Marx, on Thursday of the German Press Agency.
“The concern is that we will slip into a third wave.”
“Even if the lockdown was basically extended, these resolutions are a change in strategy towards opening up - and that even before April 1,” emphasized Marx.
The background to this is the prognosis of the specialist society, according to which early loosening, depending on the rate of vaccination and the spread of the more contagious variants, could lead to renewed high levels of stress in the intensive care units.
Corona in Germany: intensive care physicians predict a bad scenario
In the worst scenario, there was talk of an unmanageable number of 25,000 Covid-19 patients * to be treated.
At the height of the second wave, around 6,000 people were in intensive care units.
"The extent to which the resolutions could burden the intensive care units will be included in our model calculations - we will not be able to present figures for this until next week," explained Marx from the Aachen University Hospital.
“We would have liked to have had three more weeks to implement the vaccination strategy,” concluded Marx.
The decisions on Wednesday would be viewed with concern in view of the increasing number of infections.
“Especially since the mutant B.1.1.7 already accounts for 46 percent of the infections.
The number of reproductions is around 1 - and from the point of view of us intensive care physicians, it should by no means be higher.
But you have to consider: All of this is still under the current lockdown conditions. "
Third wave inevitable?
Lauterbach, Corona resolutions go far too far: "By the beginning of April at the latest ..."
Update from March 4, 10:10 a.m.:
The new resolutions of the federal and state governments should cause enthusiasm among many citizens, after all, the strict lockdown of winter is finally being relaxed.
But many experts are concerned about the rapid spread of the mutations, and a third wave seems inevitable for many of them.
The SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach also rates the sometimes strong easing of the lockdown as dangerous.
As the doctor and politician explains on Twitter, the easing decided at the Corona summit could favor a third wave.
"The most likely scenario is that with this decision the third wave starts slowly," Lauterbach said in the tweet.
So it could be that shopping with an agreed appointment would work first.
“But by the beginning of April at the latest, the incidence is over 100 and the interlude is over,” Lauterbach continues.
Ruhr24.de
*
also reports on the gloomy premonition of Lauterbach
Corona in Germany: RKI publishes current infection numbers
Update from March 4, 7 a.m.:
The day after the Corona summit negotiations, the Robert Koch Institute reports a relatively stable value for new infections.
11,912 new corona infections were officially reported within one day.
In addition, 359 additional deaths were recorded within 24 hours.
Exactly one week ago, the RKI had recorded 11,869 new infections and 385 new deaths within one day.
According to the RKI, the seven-day incidence, i.e. the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants reported within seven days, was 64.7 nationwide on Thursday - and thus slightly higher than the previous day (64.0).
Four weeks ago, on February 4th, the incidence was 80.7.
Its previous high was reached on December 22nd at 197.6.
According to the RKI management report on Wednesday, the nationwide seven-day R-value was 0.93 (previous day 0.94).
This means that 100 infected people infect 93 other people.
The value represents the occurrence of the infection 8 to 16 days ago.
If it is below 1 for a longer period of time, the infection process subsides;
if it is consistently higher, the number of cases increases.
Corona in Germany: Federal state considers easing to be "not justifiable" - tourism surprise tipped
Update from March 3, 11:08 p.m.:
The tourism surprise is now
missing
.
Previously, there were indications that the rental of holiday homes and mobile homes could be permitted again.
The federal and state governments now want to reassess and decide on the situation on March 22nd.
Update from March 3, 10:50 p.m.:
The prime ministers at the Corona summit will probably decide the measures against the protest from Saxony.
As reported by
ntv
, referring to an existing draft, the Free State is requesting a note in the minutes.
In it, the state emphasizes that "the reconditioned openings decided here are not justifiable in view of the current and foreseeable infection situation and the vaccination rate".
Openings would have to be linked to a functioning and mandatory test regime.
Corona in Germany: 35 incidence fell - new decisions on rapid tests
Update from March 3, 10:15 p.m.:
The government has also reached an agreement with regard to the announced rapid tests.
Every citizen should receive a free rapid antigen test once a week.
These would represent an important means of enabling more normalcy and secure contacts.
The tests are expected to be possible in test centers or practices from next week.
According to information from
bild.de
, the Prime Minister's
Conference
is said to have tipped the incidence limit of 35 for easing.
Openings should now come into effect at the thresholds of 50 and 100.
Trading should then only be possible again from a 7-day incidence of 50.
There would also be an opening perspective for theaters and cinemas.
Corona in Germany: surprising decision in the tourism sector
Update from March 3, 8:15 p.m.:
Relaxation in the tourism sector was not expected for today's Corona summit and could now provide a little surprise in the evening.
As can be seen from a new version of a compromise paper (as of 2 p.m., i.e. before the consultations), which
Merkur.de
* has, a restart of tourism could already take place after Easter.
If the incidence is below 100, holiday homes and holiday apartments could then be rented again, as could mobile homes.
Earlier versions of the resolution had not yet planned to relax the tourism sector.
There is no mention of an opening of the hotels in the draft.
Corona in Germany: Consensus on vaccination strategy - first vaccinations should be prioritized
Update from March 3, 7:35 p.m.:
According to information from
Merkur.de
*, the participants of the Corona summit should now have agreed that the range between the first and second vaccination should be exhausted as much as possible.
In practical terms, this agreement means that fewer doses of vaccine should be withheld and thus more people should receive their first vaccination as soon as possible.
The vaccine from AstraZeneca will soon also be allowed to be used in people over 65.
Update from March 3, 7:25 p.m.:
In addition to a clear vaccination strategy, an increase in test capacities is also an important step in combating the corona pandemic.
Several experts called for an increased use of rapid antigen tests, which already play a central role in Austria's corona strategy.
According to information from
bild.de
, comprehensive rapid tests cannot be expected before April.
The reason?
Apparently not enough rapid tests have been ordered.
A task force should now take care of the order.
Corona in Germany: Scholz calls for lockdown loosening for vaccinated people
Update from March 3, 5:34 p.m.:
The federal government is probably also discussing whether restrictions on people who have already been vaccinated against the
corona virus
can soon be lifted.
"Now that initial studies suggest that vaccinated people no longer transmit the virus diseases and therefore do not pose a risk of infection, we should next discuss which restrictions can be removed for this group," Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the
Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The SPD politician spoke of scenarios in which vaccinated people could visit cinemas, theaters or similar facilities again.
“I can well imagine that the vaccination certificate can be used like a negative rapid test.
Vaccinated people get access to all those places that are otherwise only accessible with a quick test, ”explained Scholz.
Corona in Germany: Government is discussing vaccination strategy - sequence will soon only be orientation?
Update from March 3, 4:55 p.m.:
At the corona summit of the federal and state governments, which is currently taking place, the continuation of the vaccination strategy, which should lead Germany out of the crisis in the long term, is also being discussed.
While Health Minister Spahn is holding out the prospect of AstraZeneca's vaccine being released for people over 65, Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder is calling for a rethinking of the vaccination strategy.
"All you can vaccinate" should be the motto.
So no vaccine dose should be left over.
For this purpose, according to Söder's suggestion, all doctors (including general practitioners) should be involved in order to ensure that the available doses are vaccinated quickly.
According to information from
bild.de
, there could also be a drastic change in the vaccination sequence.
According to a new vaccination ordinance, medical practices could decide on their own responsibility who will be vaccinated and would only have to use the priority lists as a basis.
Corona in Germany: Relaxation in retail - advice on appointment shopping
Update from March 3, 2:09 p.m
.: Easings for the retail trade are initially intended from an incidence of 35.
It is not yet clear from which value to loosen.
The federal-state talks are currently underway.
While incidence thresholds are currently being discussed, the state of Bremen is pushing ahead.
As a relaxation of the Corona rules, Bremen allows the opening of shops for individual customers after prior notification.
The "possibility of appointment shopping for the retail trade" is called in the decision of the Bremen Senate.
Shopping hammer before the Corona summit: the state is pushing ahead with easing
With the so-called "Date & Collect", customers can re-enter shops and seek advice after having previously agreed an appointment.
The customer has to be accompanied by a salesperson at all times.
Customers include an individual or an entire household.
A list of names for follow-up must also be kept.
"The smaller shops in the district centers will benefit from this," said the Senator for Economic Affairs, Kristina Vogt (Left Party), according to a press release from the Hanseatic city.
The Bremen Senate had already decided on date shopping on Tuesday (March 2nd).
The 7-day incidence in Bremen is 75.3.
By the way: flower shops and garden centers in Bremen have been able to reopen since February 20th.
The Bremen Senate resolution comes into force if the citizenship agrees.
That should be done in the coming days.
Other federal states could follow suit when it comes to appointment shopping.
Already on Wednesday morning before the Corona summit, there was talk of easing from a stable incidence of less than 100.
NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet indicated a change of course * in the fight against the corona pandemic.
In Baden-Württemberg, on the other hand, Prime Minister Winfried * dampened hopes for easing.
The only thing that is certain is that the hardware stores there, like in Bavaria, should open soon.
Update from March 3, 1:57 p.m
.: The Corona rules are difficult to understand for many people in Germany.
Current case numbers of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units fuel this problem dramatically.
A statement by RKI boss Lothar Wieler lets you look deeply, as
Merkur.de
* reports.
Corona: More than 3 million Corona vaccination doses have not yet been inoculated
Update from March 3, 1:22 p.m
.: The number of corona vaccination doses delivered exceeds the ten million mark with 10,377,045 doses.
The Federal Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday.
So far, at least 4,389,074 people have received a primary vaccination.
Of these, 2,215,504 people have already been fully vaccinated.
The number of corona vaccination doses not yet inoculated has increased to a record 3,772,467.
Corona mutations - Germany extends border controls until March 17th
Update from March 3, 11:40 a.m.:
Although the RKI is again recording increasing numbers in Germany, the federal and state governments are consulting on Wednesday about openings and easing of the corona pandemic.
Meanwhile, the situation in the neighboring country of the Czech Republic is worsening.
After border regions were sealed off weeks ago, but an increase was also recorded in regions close to the border in Germany, the country is now recording a sad climax and an explosive increase in the pandemic.
+
Lothar Wieler is President of the Robert Koch Institute.
© Kay Nietfeld
Corona in Germany: Hamburg daycare centers are already planning regular operations
Update from March 3, 11:20 a.m.:
On March 15, the Hamburg daycare centers will go from emergency to limited regular operation.
This will take place in parallel with the resumption of school operations after the end of the spring break, said the spokesman for the social welfare authority, Martin Helfrich, on Wednesday the German press agency.
For better infection protection, two corona rapid tests per week are provided for daycare workers.
In a four-week start-up phase, the tests would be provided by the city free of charge, after which the daycare providers would be responsible.
In addition, according to Helferich, educators are now called for corona protective vaccination.
Other daycare workers who have direct contact with the children could also make an appointment at the central vaccination center and have themselves vaccinated.
A good 20,000 people are affected.
Corona in Germany: lockdown until Easter?
Jens Spahn wants to drastically increase the speed of vaccinations
Update from March 3, 10.45 a.m.:
The RKI recorded a sharp increase in the corona numbers on Wednesday compared to last week (see update from 7.15 a.m.).
But the number of vaccinations against the coronavirus carried out in Germany remains at a constant level.
In order to accelerate the speed of corona vaccinations, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn wants to have people over 65 years of age vaccinated with the Astrazeneca vaccine as soon as possible.
"There are now data from England and Scotland that Astrazeneca works very well for people over 65," said Spahn on Wednesday in the ARD "morning magazine".
He has therefore asked the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) to expand the recommendation for the vaccine and is assuming a decision “in a few days”.
So far, the vaccine from the manufacturer Astrazeneca has only been inoculated to under 65-year-olds.
The Stiko had justified this with a lack of data on the effect of the vaccine in the elderly.
The Stiko recently announced that it was working on a revision of the vaccination recommendation.
However, the chairman of the committee, Thomas Mertens, said on Tuesday evening in the SWR whether the use of the Astrazeneca product was recommended for older people was not yet certain: “The question of the age recommendation for the Astrazeneca vaccine is now the subject of the most intensive examination, but that The result is open. "
Corona in Germany: Before the corona summit - doctors warn of premature easing
Update from March 3, 9:40 a.m.:
While the federal and state governments are discussing cautious easing of the corona pandemic on Wednesday, experts and doctors are alarmed.
Many of them fear the beginning of the third wave soon.
On Wednesday, the RKI had already registered a sharp increase in the number of infections compared to last week.
For precisely this reason, the intensive care doctor Christian Karagiannidis has now warned to be careful when relaxing the corona regulations.
The intensive care physicians are driving the great concern "that this British mutant is flying around our ears," said the President of the German Society for Internal Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine (DGIIN) on Wednesday in the WDR.
"We can certainly open something like shops ourselves to a certain extent, but what we need is extreme discipline."
It is important that masks are worn, preferably medical masks, and this must be properly controlled by the shops.
"What you can tell is that we have had a lockdown effectiveness now after Christmas that was about half as good as that in the spring," said Karagiannidis.
The corona mutation, which is classified as even more contagious than the original virus, is particularly at risk of a third wave.
The British mutant currently threatens exponential growth again, and that must be prevented in order to avoid overloading the intensive care units.
Corona currently in Germany: more than the beginning of the third corona wave?
RKI records skyrocketing numbers
Update from March 3, 7.15 a.m.:
While many experts are already warning of a third wave in the coronavirus pandemic, the federal and state governments are discussing the first cautious easing on Wednesday.
However, the current case numbers transmitted by the Robert Koch Institute on Wednesday now show a renewed increase in the number of infections registered in Germany.
Accordingly, 9019 new corona infections were reported within one day - a good 1000 more than exactly a week ago.
In addition, 418 additional deaths were recorded within 24 hours.
Exactly one week ago, the RKI had recorded 8007 new infections and 422 new deaths within one day.
According to the RKI, the number of new infections reported within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants (seven-day incidence) was 64.0 nationwide on Wednesday morning - and thus slightly lower than the previous day (65.4).
According to the RKI management report on Tuesday, the nationwide seven-day R-value was 0.94 (previous day 1.01).
This means that 100 infected people theoretically infect 94 more people.
The value represents the occurrence of the infection 8 to 16 days ago.
If it is below 1 for a longer period of time, the infection process subsides;
if it is consistently higher, the number of cases increases.
Corona summit in Germany currently: Gastronomy calls for a "clear timetable" - but doctors warn against premature easing
Original report from March 3, 2020:
Berlin - Before the corona summit of the federal and state governments on Wednesday, the first details have already been leaked *.
In principle, the current lockdown measures are likely to be extended until March 28th.
In some areas, however, the request of the "round of four" around Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the regional leaders Markus Söder (CSU) and Michael Müller (SPD) could be relaxed more quickly.
Corona in Germany news: Medical associations warn of uncoordinated easing
Medical associations have warned against premature and uncoordinated easing of the lockdown * in Germany and called for an expansion of corona tests *.
"It would be wrong to simply open some areas because people are tired of lockdown," said the chairwoman of the Federal Association of German Medical Officials, Ute Teichert, of the
Rheinische Post
.
Openings should only be made in conjunction with a targeted testing and tracking strategy, she warned.
"Under no circumstances should we roll out the red carpet for the virus," said Teichert.
It is now a matter of regaining control of the infection process.
“The virus is still faster than our measures at the moment, we are just reacting.
That has to change. ”Teichert therefore called for more tests in schools, in companies“ and also at the hairdresser's ”.
In addition, much more must be tested for virus variants * in order to get a better overview of their spread.
Corona in Germany: Marburger Bund urges caution - openings "slowly and gradually"
The Marburger Bund argued similarly.
“The openings should be made slowly and gradually.
It is important to wait for the consequences before taking the next step, ”said chairwoman Susanne Johna to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
The risk of a third wave of infections with highly contagious virus variants affects not only older patients, but “also younger, especially high-risk patients”.
"We're talking about a quarter of the population here," said Johna.
If the third wave hits them comparatively unchecked, the number of Covid 19 patients * in intensive care units will inevitably rise again.
Corona in Germany: Gastronomy and the hotel industry are calling for openings
The catering and hotel industry, on the other hand, expects the Corona * summit to offer a clear opening perspective.
On Tuesday, restaurateurs and hoteliers from all over Baden-Württemberg came together for a demonstration in Stuttgart.
"We are demanding a clear timetable with which restaurants and hotels can reopen before Easter," said Ingrid Hartges, General Manager of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) to
Tagesspiegel.
However, politics would have to deviate from the previous criteria.
"The exclusive focus on the incidence value must be abandoned and other measured values recommended by the RKI * must be taken into account," demanded Hartges.
"Politicians now urgently need to do their homework and develop a concept from the three components of vaccination, rapid tests and the digital upgrade of the health authorities that allows openings and enables social life," said the Dehoga boss.
(ph / dpa) * Merkur.de and ruhr24.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
List of rubric lists: © Bernd von Jutrczenka / picture alliance / dpa