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Virologist Drosten
Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
The number of corona cases in Germany is still roughly at the level of the last week of October.
The country still seems a long way from the high number of infections shortly before Christmas.
But in science there are now increasing voices that fear a rapid acceleration of the infection process.
When asked in a podcast by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung whether Germany was already in a “third wave”, Drosten said that one was “at the beginning” of such a development.
Drosten pointed to the faster spread of virus mutations in other countries: "That's why you just have to believe in this data and also believe in the modeling, and that's why we are now at the beginning of a new wave of spreading."
Saarbrücken professor warned of the 200 incidence in April
The Saarbrücken pharmacy professor Thorsten Lehr had previously predicted that the current development would lead to another infection at the beginning of April, like at Christmas time.
"I assume that we will get back to the same conditions as we were before Christmas," said Lehr.
He works on the Covid-19 simulator at Saarland University, which provides a prediction model for the German federal states and districts.
According to Lehr, this is due to the spread of the British Corona mutation B.1.1.7 and increased contacts between people in Germany since mid-February.
Lehr attributed the latter to "lockdown fatigue" among other things.
For the time being, Drosten does not see any influence of the vaccinations on the infection process
At the current rate, vaccinating the population in May would not have a significant effect on the spread of the virus, said Drosten.
At the same time, the mortality rate could already be reduced significantly, especially in vulnerable groups.
When asked when vaccinations and rapid tests could make greater loosening possible again without the infection rate increasing again massively, Drosten said he did not expect this until late summer.
The virologist sees progress in the mortality rate among the elderly.
"That is mainly because the dormitories were vaccinated very specifically," said Drosten.
At the same time, Drosten was positive about the large-scale easing announced by the British government from June.
"I think there is substance to it," said Drosten.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently promised to lift all corona measures in several steps by the end of June.
The number of corona infections in Great Britain had recently dropped significantly.
In addition, more than 19 million people in the country have already been vaccinated at least once.
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