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BaWü puts suspended corona rules back into force - starting next week

2022-01-21T12:14:23.667Z


BaWü puts suspended corona rules back into force - starting next week Created: 01/21/2022, 12:58 p.m By: Marc Dimitriu, Franziska Konrad According to Health Minister Lauterbach, the incidence could continue to rise. 49 districts in Germany already have an incidence of over 1000. The news ticker. The corona incidence in Germany has reached a new record (update from January 21, 6:34 a.m.) . The


BaWü puts suspended corona rules back into force - starting next week

Created: 01/21/2022, 12:58 p.m

By: Marc Dimitriu, Franziska Konrad

According to Health Minister Lauterbach, the incidence could continue to rise.

49 districts in Germany already have an incidence of over 1000. The news ticker.

  • The corona incidence in Germany has reached a new record

    (update from January 21, 6:34 a.m.)

    .

  • The virologist Kekulé considers vaccination to be useless because of the omicron variant

    (update from January 21, 6:34 a.m.)

  • The number of counties that have an incidence of more than 1000 has almost doubled to 49 in one day

    (see update from January 21, 9.30 a.m.).

  • Virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit gives slight hope that the situation will ease

    (see update from January 21, 11:50 a.m.)

  • This news ticker is continuously updated.

Update from January 21, 12:28 p.m

.: The people in Baden-Württemberg will have to adapt to new corona rules next week.

It is likely that only the second highest level will then apply, the normal alarm level, which would be associated with some relaxation.

The country wants to reinstate the regular tiered system of corona restrictions that was suspended on January 12th in the middle of next week, as a spokeswoman for the State Ministry told the German Press Agency in Stuttgart on Friday.

The government is also reacting to a ruling by the Administrative Court, which declared the freezing of alert level II with severe restrictions for the unvaccinated to be partially illegal.

If the burden on hospitals remains at the current, slightly lower level, the normal alarm level will apply again.

Actually, this level provides for significantly fewer restrictions.

However, the government wants to adjust the rules again in the individual stages, especially at events.

With the new version of the Corona Ordinance, she also wants to wait for the results of the next federal-state meeting next Monday on the further Corona strategy.

It is controversial to what extent the measures can be relaxed because of the milder course of the disease in the omicron variant. Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) had recently urged caution because the data on Omikron was not yet reliable. Freezing alarm level II, which was originally planned until the end of January, contradicts the Federal Infection Protection Act, according to the VGH. The green-black state government had retained this level in the Corona Ordinance out of concern for the omicron variant of the corona virus, thereby repealing the limit values ​​​​for the burden on hospitals by the end of January.


The spokeswoman for the Ministry of State explained that the VGH decision initially only affected the Corona regulation for study operations.

"However, we will update the main Corona regulation in the coming week as planned anyway and end the "freeze" of alarm level II, which was explicitly designed as a temporary solution until February 1st at the latest." The level system logic will basically be retained.

“Measures should continue to be based on the incidence of hospitalization and the load on the intensive care units in the future.

"Because the Omikron wave is also about protecting the healthcare system from being overloaded and ensuring that the sick in Baden-Württemberg receive appropriate treatment."

Virologist gives hope for an early improvement

Update from January 21, 11:50 a.m

.: The omicron wave is still heading towards its peak.

The virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit nevertheless gives some hope that the situation will ease.

In order to be able to assess this better, the course of the wave over the next one to two weeks is decisive, the doctor explained to the 

Hamburger Morgenpost

.

"At the moment I'm assuming that we'll be done with that in the next month or two."

In his opinion, one must then discuss how to proceed and whether the endemic phase has been reached.

However, he assumes that no further corona variants will follow that have worse effects than the previous ones.

"That is very unlikely."

Virologist Klaus Stöhr warns of extensive relaxation in the omicron wave - he also thinks stricter rules are wrong

Update from January 21, 10:25 a.m

.: Virologist Klaus Stöhr does not consider it necessary to reassess the corona measures in the light of the omicron variant, but also warns against excessive easing.

“To me, opening everything now sounds a bit like driving from the right-hand ditch into the left-hand ditch.

Somewhere the lane is in the middle and I think they find other countries better," said Stöhr on the RBB broadcaster on Thursday evening.

Because of the many less severe courses of the disease and the high immunization rate in Germany, it is by no means right to “continue like the last year and a half,” emphasized the virologist. Although the omicron variant spreads rapidly, it tends to be associated with milder courses than the delta variant. Countries like Spain are therefore considering changing the corona strategy, also because the number of corona intensive care patients is nowhere near as high as in the delta wave.

Before the top consultations of the federal and state governments, the number of those who are pushing for a reassessment of the corona measures is increasing.

Just like the CSU.

“It is true that the fundamentals are changing with Omikron.

We need an omicron check for the Corona* management in Germany," said CSU General Secretary Markus 

Blume

.

Already on Monday, January 24th, the government wants to discuss the protective measures at the Corona Summit.

Incidence shoots up to more than 700 - 49 counties over 1000: One city hit particularly hard

Update from January 21, 9.30 a.m

.: Not only have the 7-day incidence and new infections risen to new record levels, the number of urban and rural districts with an incidence of more than 1000 has also increased enormously.

There are now 49 circles above it.

The number has almost doubled compared to the previous day, yesterday it was 25. The day before yesterday the number was 15. The five districts in Germany with the highest incidence are all in Berlin.

Berlin-Mitte, Neukölln, Spandau, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Pankow head the sad list.

Update from January 21, 6:34 a.m

.: The nationwide 7-day incidence has exceeded the threshold of 700 for the first time.

The RKI reported a value of 706.3 on Friday morning.

It was 638.8 the day before, 470.6 a week ago, and 306.4 a month ago.

140,160 new corona infections were registered within one day (previous week: 92,223).

170 deaths from or with Corona were added (previous week: 286).

Experts expect more and more infections that cannot be recorded, partly because laboratories and health authorities are increasingly reaching their capacity limits.

Hospital society: Omicron wave is already burdening normal wards

According to the German Hospital Society (DKG), the burden on the normal wards in regions with high omicron numbers has increased massively.

"Looking at the numbers, the load in the intensive care unit seems to decrease, but the load in the normal ward remains high or even increases significantly," said DKG CEO Gerald Gass to the

RND

newspapers on Friday.

However, the RKI recently found a stagnation in the incidence of hospitalization.

In the most recent weekly report, the RKI also noted a further downward trend in the number of patients in the intensive care units - the currently exploding number of infections will therefore only be reflected there with a delay.

With a view to the federal-state consultations on Monday, Gass demanded specific statements on the general obligation to vaccinate.

The German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi) became clear on the subject: "There is no alternative to compulsory vaccination for adults in order to leave the pandemic behind in the long term," said Divi President Gernot Marx to the

RND

.

"Without a higher vaccination rate, we will remain stuck in a kind of permanent loop."

Scene from a mobile corona test station.

© Hauke-Christian Dittrich/dpa

Virologist Kekulé considers compulsory corona vaccination to be useless

The virologist Alexander Kekulé has spoken out vehemently against a general obligation to vaccinate. “I was already against the general obligation to vaccinate with the Delta variant because it was not epidemiologically necessary. At Omikron it's even less appropriate," he said in the podcast "Die Wochentester" from

Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger

and

RND

.

In Kekulé's opinion, an obligation to vaccinate does not help: "I don't understand why you want to make vaccines that were made for the original Wuhan variant mandatory for a future variant of which you don't even know the properties." If the vaccine will be delivered against Omicron, the Omicron wave is through.

He assumes that the autumn wave will be even easier.

“Then we will be through with the pandemic in terms of social and economic disruption.

Then it will be another infectious disease.”

"Will get such a high number of cases": Lauterbach announces a change in the PCR test

Update from January 20, 3:40 p.m.:

Lauterbach’s proposal for prioritizing PCR tests received

Support from the President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt.

In younger people, it would be sufficient to determine a corona infection with a quick test, he said on Deutschlandfunk.

In his view, confirmation with a PCR test is no longer necessary.

The Greens health expert Janosch Dahmen demanded that the PCR test capacities “should be used first to secure the critical infrastructure and to detect infections in symptomatic people”.

He explicitly

included schools in an interview with the

Rheinische Post .

Corona vaccination obligation: Lauterbach continues to call for the introduction

The latest development is also fueling the debate about general corona vaccination.

Lauterbach reiterated his position on ZDF that this had to be introduced: "In my opinion, we can't get out of the mess without compulsory vaccination," he said.

Doctor President Reinhardt also spoke out in the newspapers of the

Funke media group

again in favor of general vaccination.

This could be justified in a few weeks if no significantly higher vaccination rate was then achieved in Germany.

However, there are also doubts about compulsory vaccination, precisely because of Omikron.

"For the omicron wave, the obligation to vaccinate is probably too late," said the Hamburg virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit the

picture

.

After the omicron wave with a large number of infections, “the question of whether such a duty makes sense” arose.

In the coming week, the Bundestag will discuss possible vaccination requirements for the first time.

SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich said on Thursday before the start of a closed meeting of his parliamentary group that "we will quickly present the first key points" after the debate next Wednesday.

He assumes that there will be discussions about compulsory vaccination "which will apply from a certain age limit".

Further information campaigns and low-threshold vaccination offers are also necessary, stressed Mützenich.

By autumn, the population should be “so strong basic immunization” that the country can deal with the pandemic “more calmly” than in 2020 and 2021.

Lauterbach expects a steep increase in corona infections in the coming weeks.

© Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Lauterbach wants to prioritize PCR tests

Update from January 20, 9:23 a.m .:

In view of the shortage of PCR tests, Lauterbach wants to give preference to employees in sensitive health facilities in the laboratory evaluation.

"We will actually get such a high number of cases that we have to distribute the PCR, have to prioritize it, I will present a proposal at the weekend on how that should happen," Lauterbach announced on Wednesday evening.

According to Lauterbach, the draft resolution should be decided on Monday during renewed consultations between the federal and state governments.

Well over 100,000 new infections: And Lauterbach expects many more soon – “highest probability”

First report from January 20, 2022:

Berlin – The current corona trend is continuing in Germany: the number of infections is increasing – and breaking new records every day.

The incidence* in the Federal Republic is 638.8 on Thursday morning, January 20 (previous day:

584.4).

The RKI also reports over 133,000 infections on Thursday - both new highs.

Karl Lauterbach expects that this development will not change too quickly.

By mid-February, the Minister of Health is forecasting several hundred thousand new infections* a day.

Corona: Lauterbach expects several hundred thousand new infections a day

With a view to realistic scenarios, it can be assumed “that the wave will peak around mid-February and that we will then have to expect several hundred thousand cases a day,” said the SPD politician on Wednesday evening in the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”. . Although it is not certain that the scenarios will come about, "they have the greatest probability".

There are countries that could cope with such numbers with a view to the intensive care units - however, the situation in Germany is different.

Lauterbach warns: "Since we have a high number of unvaccinated among the elderly in Germany, things can turn out very differently here than in Italy, France or England, for example".

A concrete example: In England, for example, the number of unvaccinated people in the over-50s group is one to two percent.

"These are values ​​that we cannot reach."

Corona in Germany: According to Lauterbach, the hospitalization rate is “irrelevant snapshot”

So far, however, the wave triggered by the Omicron virus variant has not been reflected in the intensive care units.

According to the medical association Divi, the number of corona patients there has fallen from around 5,000 to 2,664 since the first half of December.

At the moment, comparatively few older people who are particularly susceptible to severe courses are infected.

Lauterbach said of the falling hospitalization rate that this was an "irrelevant snapshot" because the wave that is currently running in England and France is yet to come in Germany.

"I would expect the right load in the intensive care units in mid or late February, that's still a month away and then I hope it will still look good," said Lauterbach.

"That's going to be the endurance test, not what we're seeing now.

You can read more news about the corona pandemic here.

*Merkur.de/bayern is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA (kof/dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-01-21

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