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Reference to the still existing mask requirement in local transport in North Rhine-Westphalia
Photo: Roberto Pfeil / dpa
Most of the rules have fallen, but the virus is still there: According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the seven-day incidence in Germany is currently 276.9, and the trend has been rising for days.
Now the virologist Christian Drosten is “a little worried” about further developments.
The head of the Virology Institute at the Charité in Berlin said that the increase in cases of infection caused by the omicron subvariant BA.5 has not come as a surprise.
"The expectations I expressed at the beginning of spring have been confirmed," said Drosten.
“We are not experiencing an infection-free summer this year, but that is not initially a threat.” However, he is concerned about developments in Portugal, where not only the incidence but also the number of deaths has increased.
"There are no obvious explanations for this, because other European countries also have BA.5 increases without an increase in mortality," said Drosten.
You still have to wait a bit for more clarity: “In a month we will know whether something similar is happening here too.”
Don't act "on the fly" again
In politics, there are more and more voices that precautions must be taken now for a possible wave of infections in autumn.
One of the supporters is Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens).
The infection protection measures for the fall would have to be worked out quickly, she said »Zeit Online«.
"I have the impression that with the temporary end of general vaccination, all activities have been exhausted and have come to a standstill, and that's why we have to act now," said the Green politician.
"We should decide on an agreement on the goals before the summer break," she demanded.
Laws should not be "put together in a hurry" again.
»That has often led to a great deal of ambiguity.«
The FDP had recently called for waiting for the evaluation of the previous instruments before developing measures for the fall.
The responsible committee of experts is to present a report by the end of June.
Göring-Eckardt spoke out against the FDP proposal.
"An evaluation shouldn't be an excuse for doing nothing, especially when there are concerns that there might not be enough data," she said.
The expert committee - from which Drosten left at his own request - should not be confused with the expert council of the federal government, of which Drosten is still a member.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Expert Council called for comprehensive preparation by the federal and state governments for a new wave of pandemics in autumn.
This requires a "solid legal basis for infection control measures in order to be able to react quickly to the infection process".
For some time now, experts have been assuming that the number of unreported cases of corona diseases is high.
Many cases are not recorded by the RKI – mainly because not all infected people have a PCR test done.
Only positive PCR tests count in the statistics.
In Germany, the seven-day incidence in the previous week was 221.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The value is currently back at 276.9 new infections.
mrc/dpa