Corona in Germany: Omikron is becoming the dominant variant

Created: 01/04/2022, 8:30 PM

From: Nadja Austel

The corona virus continues to keep the world in suspense.

(Symbol picture) © Leonello Calvetti / imago

Corona continues to determine everyday life in Germany and the world.

The number of cases is increasing worldwide.

The most important thing in the ticker.

• New findings on Omicron: Lung tissue is less damaged.

• The omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly around the world.

• Corona news * in the live ticker.

Update from Tuesday, January 4th, 2022, 5:25 p.m.:

A research team from the University of Hong Kong found that Omikron replicates 70 times faster in the human airways than the delta variant.

It therefore gets into the windpipe and bronchi much faster than Delta or the original Corona variant.

In the lung tissue itself, however, it then replicates more slowly - more than ten times slower than the first variant of the corona virus, according to the results of the study.

This effect could be the reason for the less severe disease progression with Omikron *.

Corona in Germany: Omicron variant continues to spread

First report from Tuesday, January 4th, 2022:

Corona continues to determine everyday life in Germany and the world *. Around the globe, the number of cases is rising again at the beginning of the year. The omicron variant of the virus is primarily responsible for this. The fourth wave, determined by the Delta variant *, reached its peak around the Christmas holidays in 2021. At the same time, warnings were given about the start of the fifth wave, which will be driven by Omikron.

After Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Hamburg, Omikron has now also become the dominant Corona variant in Baden Württemberg. A current query at the laboratories shows that the Omikron variant is already detected in over 50 percent of all corona diagnoses, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Social Affairs in Stuttgart. It can therefore be expected in 7 to 14 days at the latest that the vast majority of infections in the country will be due to Omikron. 

On Friday, January 7th, the federal and state governments will come together again for a corona summit.

At the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK), new measures in the fight against the pandemic are to be decided.

The quarantine rule, among other things, could possibly be adjusted.

For some people, these could be shorter in the future.