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Most recently, the RKI reported 2194 new infections in one day
Photo: Michael Matthey / imago images
The number of reported new corona infections has reached the highest daily value since April.
This is based on information from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Thursday morning.
According to this, the health authorities in Germany reported 2194 new corona infections within one day.
What do the numbers mean?
The number of nine daily infections is only a value for estimating the development of the pandemic.
It is also crucial how high the proportion of positive tests is and how busy the hospitals are.
The previous high point with more than 6000 new infections reported was reached at the end of March and beginning of April.
After that, the number fell and rose again in July.
Over 2000 new infections had already been reported in August.
Is the pandemic spreading again like it did in April?
It has not yet been possible to assess this with certainty.
The figures for today and April are hardly comparable because the test capacities have increased.
In addition, there are fluctuations in the number of new infections over the course of the week because the health authorities report significantly fewer cases on the weekend.
So no problem?
Christian Drosten does not see any fluctuations in the recent increase.
"We are now on the rise again," said the virologist in Berlin at the communications congress of the Federal Association of Communicators, where he was awarded for his educational work in the pandemic.
According to the RKI, numerous smaller corona outbreaks continue to occur nationwide, for example in connection with travelers returning and in connection with celebrations with family and friends.
However, the proportion of coronavirus cases among travelers returning has decreased significantly since mid-August.
According to the RKI, more and more people in Germany are getting infected again.
What role do clusters play in Germany?
According to Drosten, the current situation is therefore different than in August.
The fluctuations in August were mainly due to imported cases from abroad, and the chains of infection in Germany were broken.
According to the virologist, this distinction is important.
A now known case is primarily an indication of a cluster in which the person concerned was infected.
This can be a group of people at a family celebration or an office community.
In the case of travelers returning, this cluster is located abroad.
In the current cases it is different.
"That means we have to adjust to the fact that what we see is the beginning of an increase in incidence that one has to control again at some point."
Is there a second lockdown coming?
Drosten emphasized that the situation was not comparable to that in March.
Even if more than 6,000 new diagnoses per day were reported in the near future - as it was then - that would not be the same because many more were being tested.
A lockdown could probably be avoided.
"We count much more sensitively," said Drosten.
So more of the existing infections should be recognized than in spring.
Second, there are now more younger people infected who do not get seriously ill.
Nevertheless, there is no all-clear.
What is important now?
According to the RKI, fewer and fewer of the reported corona infected are currently dying.
"This is mainly due to the fact that a relatively large number of young people are newly diagnosed, of whom relatively few become seriously ill and die," writes the RKI.
It must now be prevented in particular that older and particularly vulnerable population groups fall ill again.
"Since last week there has been a slight increase in the number of cases in the older age groups; this course should be carefully monitored."
According to the DIVI intensive care register, the situation in the intensive care units is still relaxed.
Drosten had already emphasized several times in the past that infections in clusters in particular had to be interrupted.
Several outbreaks show that the virus can spread rapidly under certain conditions - at so-called superspreader events.
It is currently investigating whether a bar in Hamburg could have led to a major outbreak.
600 people are likely to be affected, who now have to be quarantined as a precaution.
According to the RKI, at least 265,857 people in Germany have been proven to have been infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus since the beginning of the Corona crisis.
According to the RKI, the number of deaths in connection with a corona infection is 9371. Since the previous day, three more deaths have been reported.
According to RKI estimates, around 237,300 people had survived the infection by Thursday morning.
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