Corona situation: Virologist Streeck explains where most people are now infected
Created: 05/02/2022, 20:38
By: Kai Hartwig
Virologist Hendrik Streeck currently sees the greatest risk of corona infection in the private sphere.
© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
With the easing of the corona measures, the mask requirement came to an end in many places.
This only applies in exceptional cases.
A danger?
Virologist Streeck calms down.
Munich – Since the beginning of April, the corona mask requirement has only applied nationwide in a few areas of daily life.
An FFP2 mask must still be worn in local public transport, on long-distance journeys (train, plane, etc.) as well as in medical facilities and nursing homes.
On the other hand, you can do without mouth and nose protection when shopping or going to the supermarket.
If you look around in supermarkets or clothing stores these days, one thing strikes you: the number of mask wearers is decreasing more and more.
In the first few days after the end of the corona mask requirement, only a few people dared to go to the facilities for daily needs without mouth and nose protection, but customers with a mask are now clearly in the minority.
Corona loosening: more infections due to the end of the mask requirement?
Virologist Streeck calms down
Supermarkets have recommendations to continue to use mouth and nose protection.
However, compliance with this is not mandatory.
And apparently many people are currently deciding against the mask.
Does this threaten to negatively affect the course of the pandemic?
Virologist Hendrik Streeck does not believe that.
The director of the Institute for Virology and HIV Research at the Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn sees the greatest risk of infection elsewhere.
"From the data we have, we know that around 70 to 80 percent of infections can be traced back to private life, i.e. when you meet friends," Streeck told
RTL
.
For the scientist, there is no question "that the greatest influence on the infection process is not we ourselves, but seasonality".
Like other experts, Streeck assumes that the corona numbers will go down in the summer.
The mask wearers are also said to be fewer and fewer.
Corona numbers are going down in Germany – but there is also a lot less testing
With the nationwide seven-day incidence, the trend is at least clearly downwards despite easing.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, their value on March 21 was over 1,700, and exactly one month later the RKI gave an incidence value of 720.
However, the number of PCR tests in Germany also fell significantly during this period, from over two million to just over one million.
Therefore, a possible number of unreported cases in the case of new corona infections must be assumed to be considerable.
It is therefore not possible to say with certainty whether the pandemic will develop positively despite or because of the waiver of some of the previous corona measures.
(kh)