The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

How Much Omicron Wave is Really? RKI put off for January - Lauterbach still mentions the order of magnitude

2021-12-30T04:23:40.493Z


How Much Omicron Wave is Really? RKI put off for January - Lauterbach still mentions the order of magnitude Created: 12/30/2021, 05:18 AM From: Kai Hartwig Criticizes the advance from the CSU: Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) rejects higher cash contributions for corona-unvaccinated people. (Archive image) © Kay Nietfeld / dpa The current corona numbers are causing problems for th


How Much Omicron Wave is Really?

RKI put off for January - Lauterbach still mentions the order of magnitude

Created: 12/30/2021, 05:18 AM

From: Kai Hartwig

Criticizes the advance from the CSU: Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) rejects higher cash contributions for corona-unvaccinated people.

(Archive image) © Kay Nietfeld / dpa

The current corona numbers are causing problems for the RKI and the federal government.

The data situation should soon relax again.

Health Minister Lauterbach arranges.

Munich - Omikron is also present in Germany - however, the corona situation cannot be assessed with absolute accuracy these days. And it will probably stay that way for a few more days: The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) believes that it will only be possible to work with reliable corona numbers again in a few weeks. Time is of the essence: A new Corona summit is due on January 7th. Then it's about updating or tightening the current measures.

For the time being, only guesswork remains.

The SPD health minister Karl Lauterbach is convinced that the seven-day incidence of corona infections is two to three times higher than shown in the current statistics.

According to Lauterbach on Wednesday (December 29) in Berlin, the holidays had caused a “significant under-recording” of corona infections: “The currently reported incidence underestimates the danger we are in.”

Corona in Germany: Christmas distorts numbers - Lauterbach suspects "significant underreporting"

The RKI predicted January 10, 2022 as the approximate reference date, from then on the data would be more precise again in order to be able to classify the infection rate in Germany more precisely.

"We are assuming that the diagnostic and test behavior towards the end of the first week of January will adjust to the level of the last few weeks and that the data in the second week of January will be comparable to the data of the last few weeks," the RKI explained to the dpa.

The reason for the current uncertainty can be described in one word: Christmas.

During the Christmas holidays, the testing and reporting activity of German citizens decreased significantly.

This is also to be feared for New Year's and New Years Eve.

The smaller amount of incoming data makes the calculations more difficult for the RKI or reduces their informative value.

Numerous corona test centers remained closed on the Christmas holidays.

The weekly tests at schools or daycare centers were also omitted due to the holidays.

The health authorities had to complain about data gaps.

The result: The current picture of the corona situation is incomplete.

Corona situation in Germany: Expert warns - "Can suddenly go very quickly"

Experts are particularly concerned about the spread of Omikron in Germany. The RKI was recently sent a rapidly increasing number of proven or probable Omikron cases. For modeler Dirk Brockmann from the Humboldt University in Berlin, this is a clear indication that Omikron is playing an ever greater role in the infection process in the Federal Republic, as he told the dpa. The scientist warned against lulling oneself into a false sense of security because of the current numbers and falling incidence. "It can suddenly start very quickly and then very strongly," said Brockmann.

In the meantime, the federal government has started talks with the RKI and other experts because of the inadequate data situation.

Together they are trying to have the numbers on the pandemic very up-to-date again at the beginning of the new year, the Federal Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday (December 29).

When asked, a spokesman for the ministry said that he assumed that Chancellor Olaf Scholz would already have valid data available at the next federal-state summit on January 7, 2022.

(kh / dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-12-30

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.