Corona incidence is rising again - the proportion of omicron subtype BA.2 is growing significantly

Created: 03/04/2022 10:51 am

By: Martina Lippl

Corona in Germany: trend reversal or outliers?

The RKI reports a slight increase in incidence.

© Michael Gstettenbauer/imago

Has the peak of the fifth corona wave in Germany passed?

The RKI again reports a slightly increasing incidence.

A trend is emerging.

All information in the news ticker.

• Corona case numbers: RKI reports more than 217,000 positive corona tests on Friday.

• Omicron subtype BA.2: proportion in the samples increases significantly.

• This news ticker on Corona* in Germany is continuously updated.

Berlin – The nationwide incidence on Friday was 1196.4 (previous day: 1174.1) according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

This is the second day in a row that the value has increased.

A week ago, the nationwide incidence was 1259.5 (previous month: 1349.5).

217,593 new corona infections were recorded within one day.

A week ago there were 210,743 positive corona tests.

Is this an outlier or a trend reversal?

According to the RKI, the omicron subvariant BA.2 is significantly more transferrable.

That could be the reason.

The Institute points this out in its current weekly report (see below).

Corona in Germany: RKI reports more than 217,000 new infections

Corona case numbers: Experts believe that the number of unreported cases is high

According to experts, many corona cases are not recorded by the RKI.

Health authorities can no longer keep up with reporting.

According to the ALM laboratory association, many infections are no longer confirmed by a PCR test and therefore do not appear in the official statistics at all.

• So far, 15,481,890 people in Germany have been shown to have been infected with Sars-CoV-2.

• 123,796 people died with or from Corona

• According to the RKI, around 11,898,500 are considered recovered

Hospitalization incidence increases again

The number of corona-infected patients who came to clinics per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days was 6.36 (Wednesday: 6.14) according to the RKI.

Among them are many people with a positive corona test who have another main illness.

The value is not reported on weekends.

2,064 Covid patients currently have to be treated in the intensive care units in Germany.

Of these, 916 are artificially ventilated, as can be seen from the data from the DIVI intensive care register.

The number has been slowly but steadily declining since the beginning of March.

Intensive care physician Uwe Janssens rated the situation last week as a "stable phase" - at least in the intensive care units in Germany.

However, the doctor referred to the high number of infections, which led to a high death rate.

RKI expects the number of corona cases to continue to rise among those aged 65 and over

“In the meantime, the number of admissions with severe illnesses in the younger age groups is falling, but is still increasing in the age group of those over 80,” writes the RKI in its current Covid weekly report on Thursday evening.

The RKI appeals again via Twitter to vaccinate: "Vaccination also protects Omikron very well from a severe course, also the older ones: Please vaccinate / get refreshed!"

Who should get an update from the booster?

The Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko) recommends a second booster vaccination for everyone over the age of 70.

Omicron wave ebbs - but very slowly

The peak of the fifth omicron wave seems to have passed in the majority of the federal states, writes the RKI in its current Covid weekly report on Thursday evening.

But: “In Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein, on the other hand, the incidences continued to rise or rose again.”

However, the RKI estimates that the omicron wave will only reach seniors: "In this age group, the peak of the wave is still to come." while the values ​​for the younger ones have fallen.

RKI: Omicron subtype BA.2 is increasing

According to the currently available data, the proportion of the omicron variant BA.2 is increasing.

In spot checks the week before last, the share of Omikron BA.2 was around 38 percent, after around 25 percent the week before.

"Internationally and also in Germany, it is observed that the proportion of BA.2 compared to BA.1 is growing continuously," reports the RKI.

According to the RKI, initial studies from Denmark and Great Britain indicate that the subvariant is significantly more transferrable than the omicron variant BA.1.

"Due to the easier transferability of subline BA.2, a significantly slower decrease or renewed increase in the number of cases cannot be ruled out," writes the RKI.

An important factor for the further course is how much contacts increase as part of the planned easing.