After the spring wave caused by BA.4 and BA.5 in Portugal: what does Germany have to consider now?

Created: 06/22/2022, 05:43

By: Nadja Zinsmeister

In Portugal, the number of corona rose again in the spring.

The reason is the more contagious omicron subvariant BA.5.

© Paulo Mumia/dpa

In the spring, Portugal was overwhelmed by a wave of the new omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

What does Germany have to be prepared for with regard to the variants?

Munich – Corona seems to have no end, as the new omicron sublines BA.4 and BA.5, which are currently causing increasing incidences, make this clear.

But to what extent does Germany have to worry about a new wave?

A look at Portugal could help to better assess the situation.

As

has taken from a recent report by the Portuguese Ministry of Health, it is clearly recognizable that subvariant BA.5 was particularly responsible for the spring wave in April in Portugal.

In the first week of June, the variant was responsible for around 86 percent of new infections.

In general, the incidences have risen rapidly in recent weeks: while there were still 325 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in mid-April, the Ministry of Health in Portugal counted more than twice as many two weeks later and even an incidence of over 2000 in early June.

Omicron subvariants in Germany: This is how the BA.5 wave went in Portugal

But as rapidly as the incidence had risen, it has seemed to be falling again since then, so that Portugal is now counting less than half of the previous infections.

Also reassuring: According to the ministry, the ratio of hospitalizations to incidences indicates a lower degree of infection severity.

Previously, there were fears that they could be more dangerous to new subvariants.

However, it should be noted that the mortality rate in spring is higher than usual.

Although it is in no way comparable to the last winter wave, on June 13 the authority counted 54 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants within two weeks, more than twice as many as normal.

Video: RKI warns of outbreaks - new Omikron offshoots are already dominating

Germany: More booster vaccinations needed for new variants?

According to calculations by

, there could be more cases in the hospital in Germany than in Portugal, especially if you look at the booster vaccinations for older people.

In Portugal, for example, 96.5 percent of the older part of the population has been vaccinated, while in Germany only around 80 percent of the over-60s are.

Since the Portuguese health authority is said to have recently observed that the risk of older people being hospitalized decreases with each vaccination, this could ultimately represent a difference between the countries in the course of the wave.

Baden-Württemberg and other states are currently urging the federal government to create the conditions for stricter corona measures.

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Meanwhile, Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach is striking a rather unusual note with regard to a new wave.

With regard to the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, he seems almost mysterious.