More people in Germany are infected with Corona again.
At the same time, the call for relaxation is getting louder.
How does that fit together?
Berlin - Germany looks spellbound at the incidence.
For many, it was the decisive factor in the corona pandemic for a long time: will the summer remain relaxed and is the end of all measures in sight - or are restrictions necessary again?
After a long and steep descent, the incidence is now increasing again, in other European countries even significantly.
At the same time, along with requests for opening, doubts arise again as to how meaningful the code number is.
THE FIGURES ON THE CORONA SITUATION
The 7-day incidence had decreased continuously from nearly 170 to below 5 since April.
It has been rising again at a low level for a few days.
On Sunday, the Robert Koch Institute said it had 6.2 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days.
Experts had expected the increase, among other things, because of the more contagious Delta variant, which now dominates the infection process in Germany.
At the same time, only very few corona deaths are reported and the number of corona patients who need intensive medical care has fallen very sharply.
More than 42 percent of the population are already fully vaccinated.
VARIOUS DEBATE ON FURTHER PROCEDURE
In the political discussion about how to properly deal with the current situation, warnings of further easing were voiced at the weekend, as were calls for an end to the restrictions in the foreseeable future.
Hesse's Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU), Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) and Family Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) advised caution.
The left initially called for further corona easing to be stopped.
Bouffier appealed to wait “at least three months” in order to better assess the situation.
Saarland's Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) pleaded for further easing with a significantly increasing vaccination rate.
“The more people are vaccinated and tested, the more the incidence value alone loses its informative value.” The deputy chairmen of the SPD parliamentary group, Bärbel Bas and Dirk Wiese, argued in a joint statement.
The FDP called on the federal government to present a concept for the orderly exit from special regulations in the corona pandemic by the end of the summer break.
Business associations spoke out against renewed tough measures, even with rising corona numbers.
ALL EYES ON THE UK
The situation in Great Britain is being closely monitored from Germany.
The 7-day incidence there is already over 280 again. At the same time, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is likely to announce on Monday that all remaining corona rules in the largest part of England will be lifted on July 19.
The British have seen a significant increase in the number of new infections since the beginning of June in the course of the spread of the delta variant.
The number of deaths and hospital admissions is also increasing, but so far they have remained extremely low.
The British are hailing this as a success in their rapidly advancing vaccination campaign.
UK top statistician Ian Diamond told Sky News on Sunday that the link between infections and hospital admissions, serious illnesses and deaths had weakened significantly.
WHAT THE INCIDENT INCIDENT MEANS - AND WHAT NOT
Experts continue to regard the incidence as an indicator of how the virus is spreading in the population.
The central question is how the stronger spread of the virus is to be interpreted, said the statistician Helmut Küchenhoff from the University of Munich of the German Press Agency.
The current increase in incidence is "perhaps a reason for nervousness, but not yet a reason to reverse easing".
You have to wait and see in order to be able to foresee the effects on the actual number of diseases.
HOW THE LOOK AT THE NUMBERS CHANGES
Many experts agree that with increasing vaccination protection in the population, the incidence is in a different relationship to severe courses than it was a few months ago.
How big this difference is is difficult to assess.
Küchenhoff advocates looking primarily at the elderly in terms of incidence, as these are particularly susceptible to severe courses.
Most recently, according to RKI data, the value for people aged 60 and over was less than half as high as in the general population - and according to Küchenhoff's calculations, it has not increased recently.
This is probably also due to the higher vaccination rate among older people.
THE RKI'S VIEW
In a strategy paper at the beginning of June, the RKI stated the 7-day incidence as one of two leading indicators when assessing the corona situation.
Most recently, the RKI wrote in its management report, “From an epidemiological point of view, measures should be withdrawn step by step and not too quickly.” In another analysis, the RKI also points out that the increasing dominance of the delta variant primarily affects the intensive care units has an effect when the vaccination rates among 12 to 59-year-olds "stagnate at 75 percent or even 65 percent and at the same time a complete opening takes place".
ALTERNATIVE KEY FIGURES
The goal of politics, which was announced at an early stage, is not to overload the health system and avoid serious illnesses and deaths. From Küchenhoff's point of view, one should look closely at these parameters - for example, how many new corona cases there are in clinics. The Federal Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that hospitals should in future be obliged to report all new hospital admissions due to Corona. So far, only the number of intensive care patients has been recorded centrally. dpa