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English Garden in Munich: Additional "basic protection measures" are necessary
Photo: Bruno Kickner / imago images
In view of the discussion about how to deal with the increasing number of infections, RKI boss Lothar Wieler has continued to speak out in favor of incidence as a "leading indicator", according to a media report. As the "Bild" reported on Tuesday, the director of the Robert Koch Institute presented a paper at a switching conference between Chancellor Helge Braun and the heads of the state chancelleries on Monday in which he pleaded for the incidence to be adhered to.
According to »Bild«, the paper shows that prevention »continues to have the highest priority«.
"Incidence is the leading indicator for the dynamics of infection (high incidences have numerous effects)," is the literal meaning of the paper that is available to the German Press Agency and which "The Pioneer" also reported on.
The seven-day incidence remains important in order to assess the situation in Germany and to initiate control measures at an early stage.
Country representatives do not agree
According to information from »Bild«, the country representatives largely disagreed with Wieler's adherence to the low-incidence strategy.
Participants spoke out against continuing to consider incidence as the most important measure for the corona measures.
Regarding the current situation, the RKI paper states that the incidences have been rising again for around three weeks, the proportion of hospitalizations for around two weeks.
"The fourth wave has started."
High vaccination rates slow the spread of the virus significantly, but are not enough on their own to keep the fourth wave flat.
Additional "basic protection measures" are necessary in order to reduce the fourth wave so that the number of patients in hospitals does not become too high, according to the paper.
The RKI names a reduction in contacts and mobility as measures.
Experts are currently assuming that vaccination would justify a significantly higher incidence than was the case last year.
Since fewer people become seriously ill as a result of the vaccination protection, this is conclusive with a view to the number of Covid-19 patients in the hospitals.
Apart from that, many infections still harbor risks (read more here).
Among other things, a large number of children who have not yet been vaccinated and those who have not been vaccinated will become infected in a short time if the incidence is high.
This means that more long-term consequences, known as long or post-Covid, are accepted.
Braun explained the question of what significance the incidence should have in the future, according to "Bild" for the directional decision.
The federal and state governments should decide by the next Prime Minister's Conference on August 10th whether they are solely pursuing the goal of preventing overloading of the health system - or whether they are striving to ensure that corona infections are tracked and thus keep the incidence low.
jme / dpa / AFP
