2G plus in Hamburg: ghost games in the Bundesliga

2022-01-04T14:44:29.115Z

2G plus in Hamburg: ghost games in the Bundesliga Created: 01/04/2022Updated: 01/04/2022, 3:37 PM A television camera is in the empty fan block. © Stefan Puchner / dpa / symbol image Up to now, up to 5,000 people have been able to watch sporting events in Hamburg stadiums. Now there are also said to be ghost games in the Hanseatic city. And in view of the new corona record numbers, the Senate i

2G plus in Hamburg: ghost games in the Bundesliga

Created: 01/04/2022Updated: 01/04/2022, 3:37 PM

A television camera is in the empty fan block.

Up to now, up to 5,000 people have been able to watch sporting events in Hamburg stadiums.

Now there are also said to be ghost games in the Hanseatic city.

And in view of the new corona record numbers, the Senate is also tightening other measures.

Hamburg - In view of the now prevalent Omikron variant and the rapidly increasing corona numbers, Hamburg's red-green Senate is once again tightening the corona rules. The previous 2G rules will largely be replaced by 2G plus, as Senate spokesman Marcel Schweitzer said on Tuesday. "This applies in particular to gastronomy, culture, indoor sports, but not retail." Except for the mandatory testing for vaccinated and convalescents from Monday, people "who have a booster vaccination" and schoolchildren outside of vacation are there these would be tested regularly in schools.

Major supraregional events in professional sport such as the Bundesliga will have to be held as ghost games in Hamburg due to Corona. So far there had been an exception regulation that deviated from the decision of the Prime Minister's Conference. In the amateur area, outdoor sports events, like all other major events, will only be allowed to take place in front of a maximum of 1,000 spectators. In sports halls - as with other indoor events - an upper limit of 200 spectators should apply, as Schweitzer said.

At its last meeting shortly before Christmas, the Prime Minister's Conference decided that major events of national importance would have to take place without an audience from December 28th.

Hamburg, on the other hand, had continued to allow events - including sporting events - according to the 2G rule in the open air with a maximum of 5000 and in halls with a maximum of 2500 spectators.

According to Schweitzer, the new audience restrictions only apply in the cultural sector to events without a fixed venue.

"In the case of permanent venues, for example the existing concert halls, theaters, musicals with the corresponding ventilation and hygiene concepts, the existing options remain."

All measures should come into force next Monday, "unless other results emerge from the recommendations of the Federal Government's Commission of Experts, which is meeting today, or from the resolutions of the Prime Minister's Conference, which will meet on Friday," he said.

In Hamburg, too, Omikron has now developed into the dominant variant of the corona virus.

"We have to assume that Omikron is now the predominant variant," said Schweitzer.

At the moment, only just under 300 cases have been detected by sequencing.

However, due to the length of the verification process, these were already two weeks ago.

There are also hundreds of suspected cases.

Schweitzer referred to statements by scientists who assume a rapid spread of the omicron variant.

It would therefore be “very strange” if this were not the case in Hamburg.

He therefore assumes that most of the currently reported cases of new infections are due to Omikron.

According to the health authority, 1,468 new infections were added to the Hanseatic city on Tuesday alone - 486 more than the day before and 439 more than on Tuesday a week ago.

The seven-day incidence, which shows the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week, rose to a new record of 463.3.

On Monday the value was 440.3, a week ago it was 329.8.

Hamburg's incidence is still well above the national average: according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the seven-day incidence rose across Germany from 232.4 the previous day to 239.9 on Tuesday.

However, the RKI pointed out that due to less test and reporting activity during the holidays, the figures could still be incomplete.