Corona incidence is falling – is the flu wave coming now?
Created: 2022-05-21Updated: 2022-05-21 07:19
By: Martina Lippl
RKI: According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), children are currently more frequently diagnosed with flu than corona (symbolic photo).
© wen hui wang/imago
The corona situation in Germany is apparently continuing to ease.
Omikron BA.5 increases slightly.
The RKI has observed a significant increase in another respiratory disease, especially in children.
Berlin – The number of new corona infections in Germany continues to decrease rapidly.
Within 24 hours, the health authorities reported 48,910 new corona infections and 151 deaths.
The nationwide incidence is currently 361.8.
This emerges from the data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Friday morning
(May 20)
.
According to experts, the number of unreported infections is currently large.
Many cases are not even recorded by the RKI.
Health authorities are still overburdened, and fewer people are being tested for corona using a PCR test.
The number of corona intensive care patients is falling
In the intensive care units in Germany, 829 corona patients currently have to be treated in intensive care.
Of these, 347 are artificially ventilated.
This emerges from the data of the DIVI intensive care register on Friday (as of 8.05 a.m.).
Most recently, in August 2021, “so few” people with a corona infection were in an intensive care unit.
RKI on the corona situation in Germany: Infection pressure remains high
The seven-day incidence has fallen by 13.5 percent compared to the previous week, according to the RKI in its latest Corona weekly report.
Many indicators of hospital admissions and deaths continue to decline.
"The infection pressure remains high with around 400,000 Covid-19 cases reported to the RKI within the last week."
Omicron variant BA.5: share is increasing in Germany
According to the RKI, the proportion of the omicron subvariant BA.5 in Germany is growing - so far at a very low level.
The omicron variant BA.2 is currently dominant in this country.
But the growth seems to have stopped.
The value fell slightly to 97.4 percent.
Variant of Concern (VOC) | Share 18 weeks 2022 | Share 17 weeks 2022 |
|---|---|---|
delta | 0% | 0% |
Omicron BA.1 | 0.7% | 1.4% |
Omicron BA.2 | 97.4% | 97.7% |
Omicron BA.3 | 0% | 0.1% |
Omicron BA.4 | 0.3% | 0.1% |
Omicron BA.5 | 1.4% | 0.5% |
RKI keeps an eye on the infection process in South Africa and Portugal
"The currently increasing trend of the Omicron lines BA.4 and BA.5, especially in South Africa and recently also in Portugal, is accompanied by an increase in the number of Covid 19 cases and the positive rate," writes the RKI.
In Germany, there has only been a very small increase in BA.4 so far, from 0.1 to 0.3 percent.
According to the report, there has not been a strong increase in mixed variants either.
However, not all positive samples are examined accordingly.
also read
First monkeypox case in Munich: Lauterbach comments - WHO is probably planning emergency meetings
Storms in Germany claim the first fatality - suspected tornado pulls the top of the church down
RKI graphic for the proportion of omicron variants with a proportion of more than 1 percent.
© RKI graphic
Flu instead of corona: RKI sees a significant increase in respiratory diseases in children
According to the RKI, children are currently diagnosed with flu more often than corona.
The institute writes in its weekly report published on Thursday evening that 5- to 14-year-olds are particularly affected.
The RKI relies on findings from virological surveillance.
"If symptoms of a new respiratory disease such as a runny nose, sore throat or cough occur, it is strongly recommended - regardless of the vaccination status and also in the case of a negative Covid-19 test result - to avoid contacts and, if necessary, to contact the family doctor's practice," says the RKI -Weekly report next to it.
According to scientific definition, a wave of influenza has not even started in the 2021/22 season, but recently there have been a few more cases of influenza in Germany.
At this point, the RKI experts speak of slightly increased influenza activity.
The influenza working group had reported almost 2,000 reported cases for the past week.
In the case of influenza, a high number of undetected and unreported cases is assumed.
(ml/dpa)
