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Jens Spahn (right) and Lothar Wieler: Disagreement in the debate on incidence as a pandemic benchmark
Photo: Florian Gaertner / Photo library via Getty Images
In Germany, the number of infections is rising again.
In view of the discussion about how to deal with the pandemic, a debate about the incidence value has flared up.
The head of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler, still sees this as the "leading indicator" of the pandemic.
Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) has contradicted him.
"As the vaccination rate increases, the incidence loses its informative value," Spahn told the "Bild".
Therefore, it is "imperative to need further key figures to evaluate the situation," such as the number of newly admitted Covid patients in the hospital.
However, Spahn does not want to forego the incidence entirely: Far from being enough people in Germany have been vaccinated "to be able to do without looking at the incidence entirely".
RKI boss Wieler called for a low-incidence strategy in a federal-state switch on Monday and warned of a fourth wave.
Plans from the RKI to also take other criteria into account for the corona policy did not play a role in his lecture, according to "Bild".
Instead, Wieler insisted that the incidence remains "important for assessing the situation in Germany and initiating control measures at an early stage."
Spahn receives support from two prime ministers
Health Minister Spahn receives support from two prime ministers in his push for new pandemic indicators.
In the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND), Berlin and Rhineland-Palatinate spoke out in favor of a nationwide corona traffic light system that takes into account the seven-day incidence as well as hospital occupancy.
Due to the vaccination protection, the incidence says much less about the risk of illness and the possible burden on the health system, said the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) the RND.
"That is why the federal states must come to a new warning value with the federal government," demanded Dreyer.
A traffic light system including an incidence of hospitalization could serve as the basis here, as has already been discussed.
This put the number of infections in relation to the number of sick people in the hospitals and thus gives a very good orientation.
Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) also believes that it makes sense to add other factors to the incidence.
»In Berlin we have had a system with the Corona traffic light for over a year that records not only incidence but also other indicators such as intensive care bed occupancy.
I think that's the way to go, ”he told the RND.
MPs from the FDP and the Left are calling for an amendment to the Infection Protection Act in order to make other factors the basis of future corona measures in addition to the incidence. Michael Theurer, FDP parliamentary deputy in the Bundestag, wants a change in the Infection Protection Act "as soon as possible", as he told the "world". "There is no point in putting any specific figures in the room that could be out of date by next week," said Theurer, referring to proposals for new incidence limit values from the Union.
Health Minister Spahn should instead work towards the introduction of a "dynamic factor" - for example, consisting of the vaccination quota, available hospital beds and the capacity of the health authorities.
This factor should then be multiplied by the incidence.
The decision to amend the Infection Protection Act "urgently belongs back to the Bundestag", demanded Achim Kessler, the health policy spokesman for the left parliamentary group.
asc / dpa