Omikron: DKG warns of a new escalation of the corona situation

Created: 12/20/2021Updated: 12/20/2021, 3:36 AM

By: Tobias Utz, Lukas Rogalla, Nadja Austel, Vincent Büssow

The Omikron variant is spreading worldwide.

A study of an outbreak at a Christmas party provides new information.

Researchers are alarmed.

Update from Monday, December 20, 2021, 3.30 a.m.:

In view of the rapid spread of the Omikron variant, the German Hospital Association (DKG) has warned of an escalation of the situation in German hospitals. "If the prognoses are confirmed, according to which the Omikron variant is much more contagious than Delta and the vaccination protection against severe courses is also weaker in non-boosted people, in the worst case we will have to deal with a large number of seriously ill patients at the same time." , said the DKG CEO Gerald Gaß of the Düsseldorf "Rheinische Post" (December 20, 2021).

For the hospitals, this would be a further aggravated situation "that goes beyond everything that we have experienced so far," warned Gaß.

"According to the scientists' calculations, this fifth wave would hit us before the current high level of occupancy in the intensive care units has dropped significantly," he told the newspaper.

Omikron: outbreak at Christmas party - Drosten criticizes a detail

+++ 7.30 p.m.:

The Federal Government's Corona Expert Council has presented its recommendations on how to deal with the Omikron variant of the Corona virus *.

In the statement, the experts demand the rapid introduction of contact restrictions.

These should take effect "already in the coming days".

"Effective nationwide coordinated countermeasures to control the infection process" should be prepared.

The Expert Council expects, among other things, a considerable burden on the hospitals.

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had announced shortly before that there would be no lockdown in Germany over Christmas.

“No, a lockdown like in the Netherlands before Christmas - we won't have that here,” Lauterbach told ARD in a report from Berlin.

Corona pandemic: Christian Drosten comments on the Omikron outbreak in Oslo

+++ 1.30 p.m.:

Virologist Christian Drosten from the Berlin Charité also commented on the investigations into the Omikron outbreak in Oslo.

The researcher shared via Twitter: “The Oslo outbreak.

Practically all infected people double vaccinated and still symptomatic, half with fever. "

Virologist Christian Drosten works at the Charité in Berlin.

The picture shows him at the federal press conference.

© Stefan Boness / IPON / Imago Images

He wrote “nobody boosted” - and emphasized that 96% of the Christmas party guests had been vaccinated twice.

Nevertheless, there were 66 infections among the invited guests.

53 further cases were found among other guests in the restaurant (see update from 12 noon).

Omikron: Corona outbreak at Christmas party examined in study

+++ 12.00 p.m.:

At a Christmas party in Oslo, Norway, there was a corona outbreak at the end of November.

Now new details are known: According to consistent media reports, 66 of 117 guests were infected with the highly infectious Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2.

For another 15 it is still unclear which variant they were infected with.

The explosive thing about it: 96% of the participants at the Christmas party were double vaccinated.

A party guest had apparently returned from South Africa two days before the party, where he was believed to have been infected with Omikron.

At the time of the event, that was still unclear.

Before the start, all the guests had actually tested themselves for the corona virus using a rapid or PCR test.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has examined the corona outbreak more closely: On average, the last vaccination for the party guests was 79 days ago, none of the guests had been boosted beforehand.

The Corona variant Omikron is considered more infectious than other Sars-CoV-2 mutations.

(Symbol photo) © Christian Ohde / Imago Images

In 91% of the Omicron infections, the course was relatively mild, which is mainly due to the double corona vaccination. Symptoms such as fever, headache, sore throat, and fatigue occurred. The researchers observed three days as the incubation period, which is significantly lower than other corona variants, but matches the fact that the tests did not work in the run-up to the party. In addition to the 66 definitely determined Omicron infections among the party guests, 53 other infections were found among guests who were in the same restaurant. The scientists assume that there was contact with party guests. The conclusion of the study is: "The preliminary results of our outbreak investigation suggestthat the Omikron variant is highly transmissible among fully vaccinated young adults and middle-aged adults. "

"Omikron is fast": New crisis team in Austria

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In Austria, the government has presented the new crisis team coordination.

Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer, like the new Ampel-Coalition in Germany, wants to involve experts from science more closely in the future.

The central task of the new crisis team is to contain the corona pandemic.

Above all, the Omikron variant is a danger.

"Omikron is fast, we have to be faster," said Katharina Reich, who is responsible for the medical field in the crisis team.

Update from Sunday, December 19, 2021, 7.30 a.m.:

The Netherlands is going into a lockdown.

According to the government, the background to the corona measure is the possible spread of the omicron variant.

"It is inevitable," said Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Saturday afternoon.

Omicron variant: Federal government classifies Great Britain as a virus variant area

+++ 10.45 p.m.:

The federal government classifies Great Britain as a virus variant area.

The Robert Koch Institute announced this on Saturday evening (December 18, 2021).

To protect against the rapid spread of the omicron variant of the corona virus, the federal government will rate Great Britain with the highest category in the corona risk category from Monday (December 20, 2021).

According to the RKI, it is expected to apply until January 3, 2022. An extension is possible, it said.

This considerably restricts entry to Germany from Great Britain by road, water and air.

Among other things, there is an extended quarantine period after entry of 14 days (instead of ten days in high-risk areas), which also applies to vaccinated and recovered people.

When entering from a high-risk area, a 3G certificate is sufficient to free yourself from the quarantine.

Airlines are essentially only allowed to carry German citizens or people living in Germany from Great Britain to Germany. 

Omicron variant in Great Britain: Scientists assume a large number of unreported cases

+++ 10:38 p.m.:

Scientists meanwhile assume that significantly more people in Great Britain are infected with the Omicron variant than officially reported so far.

It is almost certain that hundreds of thousands there are infected with the mutation every day.

This comes from minutes of a meeting of a group of government academic advisors in London.

The number of hospitalizations is likely to increase in the next few days.

Current hospital admissions data are likely only a tenth of the actual figure as reports lagged.

According to models, without further measures to contain the pandemic, there is a risk of at least 3,000 admissions to clinics per day in England.

Omicron variant: London declares a disaster

+++ 6:38 p.m.:

The British capital London declared a disaster on Saturday (December 18, 2021) because of the Omicron variant of the corona virus. "The rise in omicron cases in our capital is very worrying," said Mayor Sadiq Khan. “That is why we are calling for a disaster again.” Khan pointed out that the number of Covid patients in hospitals is increasing again massively. In total, there are around 25,000 confirmed Omicron cases in the UK. In London, the new virus variant has already replaced the delta variant.

The city had already declared a disaster due to the corona pandemic at the beginning of January 2021.

At that point, the health system was on the verge of collapse.

Mayor Khan now called on everyone in London to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Vaccination centers have been reopened in a number of British cities - for example in stadiums or at Christmas markets.

There you can get vaccinated without an appointment.

Some clinics are already at their limit.

The Omikron corona variant could exacerbate the situation.

(Archive image) © Zoltan Balogh / dpa

Omikron variant causes staff shortages in clinics in Great Britain

+++ 5.16 p.m.:

Due to the rapid spread of the Omikron variant in Great Britain, British doctors are warning of massive staff shortages. According to the British Medical Association, without tightened measures, there could be a shortage of 32,000 to 130,000 employees in the National Health Service (NHS) in England at Christmas, as the Guardian reported on Saturday (December 18, 2021). That would correspond to a tenth of the entire workforce.

A London operator of several hospitals (Guy's and St. Thomas' Trust) is already preparing, because of hundreds of sick notes, to move staff from other areas to the intensive care units and emergency rooms to replace employees there. "Omikron now has a significant influence on our work," it said on Friday (December 17, 2021) in a letter to the staff, from which the Guardian quoted. The number of admitted Covid patients had risen by around a third in the past week, while many of the employees were absent due to illness.

“This is how it starts,” wrote the Berlin virologist Christian Drosten on Twitter with reference to the descriptions in the Guardian.

“Omikron will lead to massive absence from work due to illness.

Also in essential professional groups. ”On Friday (December 17th, 2021) 27,000 new corona infections were reported in London alone.

Omikron is by far the dominant variant.

A new daily record has been set across the UK with more than 93,000 infections.

Omikron: German clinics fear overload due to the new corona wave

+++ 4.47 p.m.:

The German Hospital

(DKG) fears that Omikron could overload the handles.

DKG boss Gerald Gaß justified this with forecasts of the Corona variant, according to which this is more contagious than Delta and causes equally severe courses.

In the worst case, you would then have to deal with a large number of seriously ill patients at the same time.

For the hospitals, this scenario would be an "aggravated situation that goes beyond everything we have experienced so far," said Gaß.

Therefore, politicians must now carefully analyze findings on Omikron from other countries and take appropriate countermeasures.

According to the DKG boss, contact restrictions are then necessary.

+++ 10.00 a.m.:

The Omikron variant of the corona virus continues to cause uncertainty, among other things because it is largely unexplored.

What has now become part of the consensus of research is that Omikron is probably much more infectious than other variants of Sars-CoV-2.

In addition, science assumes that Omikron vaccinations can be handled more easily than other variants, which is why booster vaccinations come to the fore.

Corona variant Omikron as a "ticket in endemic situation"?

However, it is uncertain when Omikron will become the dominant Corona variant in Germany. In addition to warnings of a fifth wave of the pandemic, for example by the new Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach, there are also other voices: Virologist Isabella Eckerle from the University Clinics of Geneva recently emphasized on Twitter that Omikron could be “the ticket to the endemic situation”. An endemic state would be reached as soon as the majority of the population came into contact with coronaviruses and the immune system was thus used to it. In spite of this, the organism would largely be protected by a vaccination.

Eckerle's endemic scenario due to Omicron infections is considered by immunologist Carsten Watzl from the Technical University of Dortmund to be rather unlikely: Infections alone would not succeed, Watzl told ZDF *.

“Omikron will lead to more people becoming infected and getting immunity.

Whether that is enough for Sars-Cov-2 to become endemic and for the infections not to overload the health system next winter, for example - I would wait and see. "The vaccination researcher Leif Sanders said similarly:" I would not give Omikron a 'ticket out of the pandemic' to name.

But it is a virus that can accelerate the transition.

But the way there will be very difficult. ”, Said Sanders in an interview with ZDF.

Corona variant Omikron: "The tsunami is starting to roll over us"

+++ 8.00 a.m.:

The Omikron variant is currently spreading at breakneck speed in Great Britain.

At the same time, there is still a high number of infections with the delta variant.

On Friday (December 17th, 2021) alone, a new high of 93,045 new corona infections was reported.

111 deaths were recorded.

There has also been an increase in hospital admissions, although not to the same extent as in infections

An interview with the Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

© Fraser Bremner / Daily Mail / Imago Images

According to government information, more than half of the corona infections in Scotland can now be traced back to the Omikron variant. "The tsunami that I warned about a week ago is now starting to roll over us," said Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a press conference on Friday (December 17, 2021) in Edinburgh. At the beginning of the week, Sturgeon had already called on people in their part of the country to limit their contacts to three households. Shops and restaurants have also been urged to reintroduce measures to contain the virus.

In light of the surge in infections with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Great Britain's neighbor Ireland has imposed a curfew on bars and restaurants.

According to Irish authorities, 35 percent of the newly detected cases are due to the Omicron variant.

On Thursday (December 16, 2021) the share was still 27 percent.

As of Sunday (December 19, 2021), the restaurants will have to close daily at 8 p.m., as Prime Minister Michael Martin announced on Friday (December 17, 2021).

He admitted that the announcement was certainly "disappointing for many".

It is imperative, however, that "across Europe the contacts between people are reduced very strongly and immediately".

Omicron variant: hospitals sound the alarm

Update from Saturday, December 18, 2021, 6.30 a.m.:

According to an assessment by the clinics in Germany, the situation in the hospitals could worsen significantly if the corona forecasts for the Omikron variant come true.

If it is confirmed that these are much more contagious than Delta and the severity of the courses are comparable, in the worst case one will have to deal with a large number of seriously ill patients at the same time, said DKG boss Gerald Gass.

"For the hospitals, this would be a further aggravated situation that goes beyond everything that we have experienced so far."

Gaß called on politicians to weigh up and analyze "very carefully".

In addition, it is necessary to think about further contact restrictions.

Omikron variant: Drosten warns - "There is no wave coming"

+++ 10:50 p.m.:

Christian Drosten warns of a devastating corona wave in Germany. "Omikron is an optimal post-pandemic virus," wrote the virologist on Twitter on Friday. Germany is "not yet ready for the endemic situation because of the vaccine picking". This describes the continually increasing occurrence of the disease.

Drosten shared a graphic that the data journalist Christian Endt had previously posted. Ended fears that the Omikron variant could dominate at Christmas. The number of corona cases would then rise very quickly. "There is no wave, but a wall," wrote Endt. In view of the sparse data on the Omikron variant in Germany, the graphic is "somewhat speculative," he said in a detailed statement. “We don't know exactly how much Omikron is in Germany today, when it becomes dominant and how steep the curve then rises. But if we wait for certainty, we will come too late. "

According to Christian Endt, there is nothing to suggest that the Omikron variant will behave differently in this country than in South Africa, Great Britain and Denmark.

“We therefore have to prepare for a massive wave of new infections, steeper than any before.” The incidence could approach the 1000 mark by the end of the year.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, the number of cases in Germany is currently falling far too slowly.

The RKI called the development of Corona in the weekly report "worrying".

Omikron variant: RKI classifies France and Denmark as high-risk areas

Update from Friday, December 17, 2021, 8.40 p.m.:

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the Federal Government are classifying France and Denmark as high-risk areas from Sunday (December 19, 2021) due to the high number of corona infections. From the same day on, Norway, Lebanon and Andorra are considered to be countries with a particularly high risk of infection. On the other hand, Albania, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and the Republic of Moldova have been removed from the list of high-risk areas.

High-risk areas are countries or regions in which a particularly high risk of infection is assumed due to high infection rates.

Anyone entering Germany from high-risk areas without having been fully vaccinated or recovered must be isolated for ten days.

This quarantine can be ended with a negative corona test after five days at the earliest.

Omikron variant: Lauterbach assumes a “massive fifth wave”

First report from Friday, December 17, 2021, 3:15 p.m.:

Frankfurt / Berlin - The spread of the Omikron variant of the coronavirus * worries the federal government. B.1.1.529 is considered to be significantly more contagious than previous Corona variants. In addition, it is feared that the currently approved corona vaccines * do not protect against Omikron as well as against the Delta variant. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday (December 14th, 2021), the Omikron variant has already been detected in 77 countries and is likely to spread in almost all other countries.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach * told the press in Hanover on Friday (December 17, 2021) that Germany had to prepare for a “massive fifth wave” because of the Omikron variant.

If infections with the omicron variant actually had a milder course, as some researchers suspect based on initial findings, this would perhaps keep the number of deaths low for two or three weeks.

Due to the strong growth in new corona infections, this advantage was quickly used up, said the SPD politician *.

The upcoming wave will be a "massive challenge" for the hospitals, but also for society as a whole, emphasized Lauterbach.

Omikron variant: "Biggest current threat to global public health"

An attempt must therefore now be made to push back the wave. In this context, Lauterbach reiterated his call for a comprehensive booster campaign. Corona vaccines are not a “miracle weapon”, explained Lothar Wieler, President of the Robert Koch Institute, on Thursday. Not only Germany, but also Great Britain * and Denmark, which had previously abolished most of the statutory corona rules, are now re-introducing measures *.

The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced due to the Omikron spread that cinemas, theaters and concert halls would be closed. Accordingly, a new all-time high of more than 11,000 new corona infections within 24 hours was registered in Denmark on Friday (December 17th, 2021). According to British experts, Omikron surpasses anything seen so far in the entire pandemic.

The health ministers of the G7 countries have classified the Omikron variant as the "greatest current threat to global public health," as they announced on Thursday.

The EU countries rely on rapid booster vaccinations in the fight against B.1.1.529.

Also in the USA * President Joe Biden * warned of a "very rapid" spread of Omikron.

He urged citizens to get vaccinated or boosted.

He predicted "a winter with serious illnesses and death" for the unvaccinated.

Omicron variant: Corona vaccinations probably prevent further serious illnesses

In South Africa, where the Omikron virus variant was first discovered *, the health authorities recorded the highest number of new infections every day since the pandemic began. The number of hospital admissions is growing "not at such a dramatic rate," said Michelle Groome of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) at a press conference. "We're starting to see a few increases, but relatively small increases in deaths." The number of patients who need oxygen is also lower than before. In addition, they seemed to have to stay in the hospital for a shorter time than during previous corona waves.

But the observations did not mean that Omikron was less dangerous, but rather that the corona vaccinations prevented serious illnesses, said Health Minister Joel Phaahla.

The lower hospitalization and death rates are "likely to be due to significant vaccination coverage," especially among the elderly.

In South Africa, only around 31 percent of the population are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

For people over 60 years of age, however, the vaccination rate is 66 percent.

(lrg / tu / vbu with AFP / dpa) *