Corona: First major outbreak of the Indian mutation - those affected apparently got infected in the elevator

Outbreak in a high-rise: In Germany, suspicion of the Indian variant was confirmed in 26 cases.

A study gives hope in the effectiveness of the vaccines.

The news ticker.

• The coronavirus situation in Germany is slowly easing.

• However, there are warnings about the Indian mutation B.1.617 *.

  (Initial report)

• According to a study, the vaccines from Biontech and Astrazeneca also protect against the new variant.

  (Update May 23, 12.46 p.m.)

• This news ticker is continuously updated.

Update from May 23, 12.46 p.m.:

The Indian coronavirus variant is also rampant in Germany (

see first report

). But the danger could be averted by the steadily growing vaccination rate. According to a study from Great Britain, the vaccines from Biontech and Astrazeneca should offer a high level of protection against the mutations. After a double vaccination, the two preparations protect almost as effectively against a corona disease caused by this variant as against one caused by the British variant B.1.1.7. According to the British news agency PA, this is the result of a study by the government agency Public Health England (PHE).

The vaccine from Biontech reduces the risk of disease two weeks after the second dose with 88 percent effectiveness.

With the British variant, the protection is slightly higher with a value of 93 percent.

According to the research, the Astrazeneca vaccine protects against the Indian variant with an effectiveness of 60 percent.

With a value of 66 percent, the effectiveness against the British variant is somewhat stronger.

An overview of the effectiveness of the vaccines depending on the virus variant

vaccine	Indian variant B.1.617.2	British variant B.1.1.7
Biontech	88 percent	93 percent
Astrazeneca	60 percent	66 percent

Corona in Germany: RKI reports significantly fewer new infections than in the previous week

Update from May 23, 7:00 a.m.:

The health authorities in Germany reported 6714 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within one day (as of 5:11 a.m.). For comparison: a week ago the value was 8500 infections. The seven-day incidence in the morning was given by the RKI nationwide as 64.5 (previous day: 66.8; previous week: 83.1). On Sunday, the number of cases reported by the RKI is usually lower, among other things because fewer tests are carried out on the weekend. According to the information, 82 new deaths were recorded throughout Germany within 24 hours. A week ago there were 71 dead.

According to the RKI situation report on Saturday evening, the nationwide seven-day R-value was 0.87 (previous day: 0.85).

This means that 100 infected people infect a further 87 people.

The R-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.

Coronavirus: Individual hotspots with a high incidence

Update from May 22nd, 10:32 p.m.:

While the vaccination campaign is progressing and more and more easing is

taking place

nationwide, a few areas are still lagging behind.

The Saxon Erzgebirgskreis has been a hotspot for months with a 7-day incidence of 175 (as of May 22, 12:30 p.m.).

Many residents are frustrated, reports the

Zdf

.

There does not seem to be any improvement in sight.

A special vaccination campaign with mobile teams should now help.

In addition, Thuringia is the only federal state that has so far exceeded the critical 100 mark.

But here too, the health authorities are recording falling numbers.

With a 7-day incidence of 105 on Saturday, the move to the 100 mark doesn't seem far anymore.

Update from May 22, 8:18 p.m.:

In Germany, the vaccination campaign continues. According to the RKI, 33,041,570 (39.7%) people in Germany are currently vaccinated. 11,343,644 (13.6%) have already received the second vaccination. There is a clear trend here. “An expected but new development: In the last two days there were more second vaccinations than first vaccinations in Germany for the first time,” Health Minister Spahn announced on Twitter. "The second vaccination is important for full protection," he emphasized.

On June 7th, vaccination prioritization will also be discontinued nationwide.

In view of this, German family doctors are now calling for the vaccines to be distributed fairly.

"If not all can be supplied, you have to at least distribute it evenly," said the chairman of the family doctors' association, Ulrich Weigeldt, the

NDR.

At the moment, every opportunity should be used to vaccinate.

"The involvement of company doctors, private doctors, all of that may help," said Weigeldt.

“But of course we cannot accept if other structures are always favored.” In addition, Weigeldt fears a rush to the practices after the end of the prioritization.

Corona in Germany: outbreak of the Indian mutation - already 26 confirmed cases

First report from May 22, 6:20 p.m.:

Velbert - Due to the Indian mutation, the Corona situation remains tense, warned Union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus on Tuesday (

May 18

).

Now it is certain: Germany has the first major outbreak with the Indian variant.

In a high-rise building in Velbert, North Rhine-Westphalia, 26 people tested positive for the variation.

A total of seven families are affected, the WDR learned on Saturday afternoon.

Presumably the people in the elevator were infected.

Outbreak of the Indian mutation in Velbert: 189 people have been in quarantine for almost a week

189 residents of two high-rise buildings were quarantined in Velbert on Sunday (May 16). A confirmed case of the Indian variant triggered the measure. And while more and more relaxations came into force in many places in Germany, quarantine and mass tests were called for the residents last week. Everyone in the building complexes had to undergo a test. After the first negative results, the situation eased for the time being. 73 people who were in no contact with the infected after intensive investigations have already been allowed to cancel the quarantine.

However, 26 of the tests now show evidence of the Indian variant.

Including children.

"26 cases - this must not be the end of the flagpole be" fears Health Councilor Marcus Kowalczyk, opposite

rtl.de

.

The Indian Corona variant had previously been classified as "worrying" by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to experts, it could be up to 50 percent more contagious than the British variant.

In addition, a slightly reduced vaccination protection is suspected.

However, virologist Streek is less worried about the mutation *.

+

The Indian mutation was detected in 26 tests in this high-rise in Velbert.

Almost 200 people were in quarantine.

© Christoph Reichwein / dpa

Indian variant in Europe: Great Britain is also struggling with the mutation - RKI is re-classifying the island

The Indian variant is also currently spreading in Great Britain *.

The RKI * therefore classified the island as a virus variant area on Friday (21.5).

Now there is a two-week quarantine requirement for travelers from Great Britain.

It cannot be shortened even with a negative test.

In addition, flight, bus and train companies are only allowed to transport people who also live in Germany to the Federal Republic.

By the middle of this week, around 3,000 cases of the Indian corona variant had been detected in Great Britain.

(chd with dpa) * Merkur.de is part of IPPEN.MEDIA.

List of rubric lists: © newspix / imago images