Omikron hits through: German neighbor reports more than 368,000 new infections - in one day

Created: 01/12/2022, 11:06 AM

By: Patrick Mayer, Bettina Menzel, Franziska Schwarz

The omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Europe and Germany and causing many infections.

The news ticker for the mutation.

• Corona *

  variant * Omikron:

  The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) * is monitoring the spread.

  (see first report)

• Germany's neighbor France reports more than 368,000 new corona infections in one day.

  (see update from January 11th, 8:50 p.m.)

• Switzerland calculates how many residents will be infected with Corona by the end of January.

  (see update from January 11, 3:55 p.m.)

• This

  news ticker for Omikron in Germany * and worldwide

  is continuously updated.

Update from January 11, 8:55 p.m.:

The Omicron variant raises questions: How well do the vaccinations against the mutation of the coronavirus work?

Are there any differences between the vaccines?

A search for clues.

Omikron wave: Germany's neighbor France reports more than 368,000 new corona infections

Update from January 11th, 8:50 p.m.:

Spectacular figures: Germany's neighbor France has set a record with more than 368,000 registered new corona infections within one day.

According to the French health authority on Tuesday evening, 368,149 new infections were reported within 24 hours.

The previous high from last Wednesday was 332,252 registered infections.

The number of cases in France has skyrocketed over the past few weeks.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus is now predominant in the country.

The reported cases are only officially registered infections, an unreported number is not known.

Capital of France: Paris, with around 12.5 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area.

© IMAGO / agefotostock

Update from January 11, 6:55 p.m.:

The Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer have started production of a corona vaccine adapted to the Omikron variant for later commercial use.

The Biontech boss Ugur Sahin announced this Tuesday at a health conference of the US bank JP Morgan.

A clinical study on the vaccine will begin at the end of January.

"We assume that we will be ready to deliver to the market by March, if the regulatory approvals are in place," said Sahin.

Omikron wave: Switzerland assumes high levels of corona immunization in the population

Update from January 11, 3:55 p.m.:

In Switzerland, too, the number of corona infections * is rising rapidly.

On Tuesday, the Federal Office of Public Health reported 24,600 new infections with the coronavirus.

A scientific task force deployed now expects that at the impending peak of the omicron wave, 10 to 30 percent of the population will be infected with corona within a week.

When the wave subsided, 65 to 85 percent of the population would be immune or protected by booster vaccinations, said Tanja Stadler, the chair of the task force that advises the government.

The mathematician and biostatistician from Stuttgart expects the peak of the contagions in one to three weeks.

This will also show himself at the admissions to the hospitals for a week to ten days.

The hospitals are facing a great burden.

“It will be extremely difficult at certain points,” she said in Bern.

In order to maintain business, society and administration operations, it is justifiable to shorten the quarantine to five days for people who have had close contact with an infected person.

Switzerland has an extensive mask requirement, in restaurants and many public facilities only convalescent and vaccinated people are allowed.

Apart from personal restrictions at major events, there are no major restrictions in public life for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered.

Zurich: With around 420,000 inhabitants, the largest city in Switzerland.

© IMAGO / Blickwinkel

Omicron wave: Corona cases peak in the USA

Update from January 11, 3:20 p.m.:

According to the Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the number of corona cases recorded in one day has reached a new high. With 1.484 million new cases, the authorities reported on Monday (January 10) around 313,000 more than the previous record exactly a week ago. According to estimates by the CDC health authority, Omikron now accounts for around 95 percent of all new infections.

In addition, the USA is threatened with a hospitalization record.

On Monday, 141,385 people infected with corona were hospitalized in hospitals, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

According to media reports, the value was just below the high of around 142,000 occupied hospital beds in mid-January of last year.

The CDC health authority is only providing corresponding data with a delay; currently these are only available up to the end of December.

According to the CDC forecast, the number of hospital admissions is likely to continue to rise in the coming weeks.

Omikron: WHO predicts an “unprecedented” wave in Europe

Update from January 11, 1:35 p.m.:

Omikron is currently spreading rapidly in Europe. In some countries, the new Corona variant is already the dominant one. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than half of the people in Greater Europe could be infected with it by March. The Director of WHO Europe, Hans Kluge, said on Tuesday at an online press conference.

Omikron attacks human cells faster because of its mutations. This also applies to those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered. "At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) predicts that more than 50 percent of the region's population will be infected with Omikron in the next six to eight weeks," said Kluge, referring to the university's research institute of Washington in Seattle.

According to Kluge, the "unprecedented" spread of the coronavirus is already noticeable in an increase in Covid 19 patients in hospitals, but the death rate is stable.

The new wave of infections is putting "the health systems and the service sector in many countries, where Omikron has spread very quickly, under pressure," said the WHO representative.

"Many other" countries are threatened by this.

Kluge emphasized that corona vaccinations are still of great importance.

The approved vaccines therefore “continue to offer good protection against serious illness and death, even with Omikron”.

The WHO estimates that more than half of the people in Europe will be infected with Omikron by March.

(Archive image) © Martin Juen / IMAGO

Omicron studies from South Africa: higher percentage of infected people without symptoms

Update from January 11, 11:25 a.m.:

With the Omicron variant, the proportion of people without symptoms among the infected is much higher than with previous variants.

This is shown by the preliminary results of two South African studies, as reported by

, among others .

Significantly more people who tested positive had no symptoms compared to previous studies.

That could explain why Omikron is spreading so quickly around the world, explain the scientists from the Ubuntu and Sisonke studies.

Omikron wall hits Germany with a delay

Update from January 11, 10 a.m.:

The Corona numbers are also increasing significantly in Germany thanks to Omikron. But compared to the already high Omicron walls of neighboring countries, the wave of infections builds up later. Why is that? Protective measures probably play the greatest role, as immunologist Carsten Watzl of the German Press Agency (dpa) said. The delta wave had just broken, but the tightened measures were still valid and still in effect when Omikron arrived in November.

In addition, the population in this country has apparently quickly adapted their behavior to Omikron and behaved more cautiously - and thus contributed to the previous lack of the wall, explained Christine Falk from the Hannover Medical School. "The actions of each individual flow into the overall situation," emphasized the President of the German Society for Immunology (DGfI). Falk hopes that people will continue to act with great caution and that the wall can at least be reduced to a wave. "We have Omikron better under control than others, it is feasible that the numbers do not slip away from us as much as other countries." Wearing an FFP2 mask in public spaces is one of the most effective measures for this.

The President of the German Society for Immunology advocates FFP2 masks in public spaces.

© Frank Rumpenhorst / dpa

Omikron: Expert expects incidences "well over 1000"

Watzl, Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, is convinced: "We will get incidences well over 1000 - the national average, regionally well above." Germany could therefore reach its highest level in February.

That is still far too far from spring for the seasonal decline to have a mitigating effect.

"The only advantage of the delayed omicron wave for us is that we have more time for the vaccinations," explained Watzl.

Because even if the vaccination quota is not decisive for the spread - it is for the stress in the clinics. "If Omikron resulted in 70 percent fewer hospital admissions in our country compared to Delta, we would have the same stress again at an incidence of 1500 like the fourth wave. "

Omikron: Sweden tightened corona measures

Update from January 10, 6:19 p.m.:

Omikron cases are also increasing in Sweden *. For this reason, the country is now tightening the corona measures. The government announced on Monday that bars and restaurants will have to close at 11 p.m. from next Wednesday. Events in closed rooms are capped at 500 participants, from 50 participants a vaccination certificate is required. This applies to public events. A maximum of 20 people are allowed to meet at private parties or gatherings. "We are currently in a situation with record levels of transmissions," said Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson as the reason for the new measures.

Just like in other countries - such as Israel - Sweden has repeatedly recorded new highs in the number of corona cases in the past few days. Experts attribute this to the Omikron variant. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been no school closings or lockdowns in Sweden, there was talk of the Swedish “Sonderweg”. The statistics show that the 15,300 corona deaths to date based on the population of 10.3 million people in Sweden correspond to the European average. Compared to neighboring countries such as Norway *, Finland * and Denmark *, which were more restrictive during the corona pandemic, the death rate in Sweden is significantly higher.

A man with a mask in downtown Stockholm.

Sweden announced new measures on Monday (January 10, 2022) in view of the Omikron variant of the corona virus (archive image).

© picture alliance / dpa / XinHua |

Wei Xuechao

Corona case numbers in Israel reach new highs

Update from January 10, 4:20 p.m.:

In Israel, the Corona infection numbers from Omikron climb to new highs every day.

The Ministry of Health reported 21,501 new cases on Monday for the previous day.

Last autumn, during the fourth corona wave, the peak was more than 11,000 cases per day.

However, the actual number of infections is currently likely to be significantly higher.

Because Israel relaxed the test requirement last week: Only risk groups and people over 60 years of age have to do a PCR test after coming into contact with a person infected with corona.

A rapid antigen test is sufficient for everyone else.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Sunday that two to four million Israelis would become infected with the corona virus in this wave of infections.

According to the ministry, only around 61 percent of the 9.4 million Israelis are fully vaccinated.

Around 320,000 people have already received the fourth corona vaccination.

Omikron: First outbreak in China - Beijing sets up checkpoints

Update from January 10th, 3:30 p.m.:

After the first local Omikron outbreak in China, further infections have been discovered.

The number of cases in Beijing's neighboring city of Tianjin rose from 20 to 40, while two infections were also discovered in central China, the state media reported on Monday.

The discovery of local Omicron infections almost four weeks before the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing and before the travel season for the Chinese New Year celebrations at the end of January alarmed the authorities.

Health authorities expected further infections.

The highly contagious variant is likely to put China's strict zero-Covid strategy to the test with mass tests, curfews, quarantine and foreclosure.

In the state media, epidemiologists speak of the "first real battle" against Omikron in China.

In the affected Tianjin, all 15 million residents have been tested since Sunday.

Residents were urged not to leave the city without good reason.

They also have to prove a negative PCR test within 48 hours.

The estimated 100,000 commuters who work in Beijing, 100 kilometers away, have been asked to work from home.

The capital set up checkpoints to control access.

Omikron: Share in Germany is growing rapidly

First report from January 10th:

Berlin - Within one day the detected Omikron cases in Germany increased by six percent (+ 5162).

The Robert Koch Institute assigns a total of 89,464 infections to the new Corona variant in its current overview.

The authority has kept the register since calendar week 46.

For the first calendar week of the new year, the RKI expects a “high” number of late registrations.

So far, most cases have occurred among 15 to 34-year-olds with 41,320, followed by 35 to 59-year-olds with 29,645.

There were 8,266 cases among the 5 to 14 year olds and 6,860 in the 60 to 79 age group.

Omikron in the individual federal states: the top 3

The RKI also breaks down the Omikron distribution regionally.

So far, most infections have been recorded in North Rhine-Westphalia (1949), Bavaria (1582) and Baden-Württemberg (1166).

But these are only the confirmed cases.

If you add the suspected cases, the numbers in the three federal states are significantly higher: 26,224, 20,390 and 12,239 respectively.

You will find the tables behind this link.

The RKI regards a case as confirmed if the omicron is recognized by means of whole genome sequencing or a variant-specific PCR test.

3D computer graphics of coronavirus under the microscope.

© Tomasz Mikielewicz / Imago

Omikron: Lauterbach indicates a “special” problem

Since the discovery of the highly contagious Omicron variant in November, many countries have reported record numbers of infections.

However, this has not yet led to a corresponding increase in deaths.

This seems to confirm the findings from studies, according to which Omikron is more contagious than the previous variants, but the course of the disease is less severe.

The countries with the world's highest infection rates per 100,000 inhabitants are all in Europe: at the top Cyprus with a seven-day incidence of 3468, followed by Ireland (2840), Greece (2415), Montenegro (2371), Denmark (2362 ) and France (2137).

In Great Britain, Omikron is already the predominant variant.

In the country, there has already been an overload of the clinics - because many clinic staff were absent due to a corona infection and subsequent isolation.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach retweeted a chart on Monday with the latest figures from Great Britain and warned against transferring the data on the “immunity wall” to Germany: “We have a special problem with older people who have not been vaccinated.” On the other hand, there are the Few of those over 65 who have not yet been vaccinated.