(Typo in the second paragraph fixed)
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – In view of the expected rapid spread of the Corona variant Omikron in Germany, further crisis measures are in focus. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced proposals for the next week. “We are faced with a dynamic increase in the number of Omikron cases,” said the SPD politician on Wednesday evening in the ARD “Tagesthemen”. It is important to consider what this means in terms of contact reductions and the duration of quarantine times. After delays in reporting over the holidays, there should be “very reliable figures” on the corona situation at the Prime Minister’s Conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on January 7th.
Lauterbach explained that a doubling of the omicron is to be expected – Cases within four to five days. The new Expert Council of the Federal Government and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) dealt with the situation. He is also in contact with scientists and politicians in other countries where the omicron problem is more advanced. “We have to prepare something like this properly. A quick shot is wrong,” he said about further measures.
The RKI has now announced a slightly higher seven-day incidence of 207.4 – however with the restriction that the data can provide an incomplete picture. The previous day, the number of new cases reported per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days was 205.5. The health authorities now reported 42,770 new infections within one day, and 383 more deaths were registered.
Lauterbach had already announced on Wednesday as its own estimate that the actual incidence should be two to three times as high officially identified. The background is fewer tests in practices and at work over the holidays and slower reports of test results to the health authorities and from there to the RKI. “I am working to provide numbers to work with,” said the minister. With estimates based on the current data, it is good enough to see what is going on in Germany. With that one could already make very good health protection policy.
Lauterbach explained that the more contagious Omikron variant is increasing especially in northern Germany. The numbers are rising very sharply in Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia, which is also likely to have something to do with the proximity to the border with Denmark and the Netherlands. The SPD politician again promoted “booster” vaccinations, which are of the greatest importance as the “best protection against Omikron”. The vaccination campaign continues very quickly despite the holidays.
According to the RKI, a total of 621,000 doses were injected on Wednesday, 502,000 of which were for booster vaccinations. With a third dose “boosted” at least 31.6 million people are now vaccinated. At least 59.1 million people or 71.1 percent of the total population now have full basic protection with the mostly necessary second injection.
In view of the expected high number of infections, shorter quarantine times are also being discussed. The UK and US have shortened the symptom-free duration to prevent acute staff shortages in areas essential for basic services and safety. Spain shortened the quarantine period for asymptomatic infected people on Wednesday from ten to seven days.
The Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) is pushing for a regulation for Germany. “We now have to set the course in order to be well prepared – also and especially with a view to the critical infrastructure,” he told the news portal “Watson”. “In my opinion, an exemption from quarantine for boosted contacts would be conceivable, for example.” In the program “RTL Direkt” he said that an opinion from the RKI or the expert council was necessary before the Prime Minister’s Conference on January 7th Ensure practice’s PCR tests also on public holidays and sufficient laboratory capacity is available. Health authorities are not the bottleneck, said chief executive Helmut Dedy the editorial network Germany (Thursday). “Since many medical practices and laboratories are now on Christmas vacation, there is less testing there.” The chairman of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, called it “more than embarrassing” that Germany had no valid figures over the holidays. “We still have a huge digitization problem,” he said on Thursday in Deutschlandfunk./sam/and/höz/nku/bg/DP/stw
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