It is the day on which the number of pandemic deaths in Germany exceeds the 100,000 mark. 312 of them from the district of Munich. The infection process has currently developed a dynamic that is hardly controllable, as District Administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU) described on Thursday in his weekly Corona press conference. The staff in the health department can no longer keep up with the determination of contact persons, which is why the Bundeswehr is now coming to their aid. Eight people from the district currently have to be treated in hospital. At 2.29 percent, the hospitalization rate in the district is still low, according to Göbel, “but the view of Munich and the decreasing number of intensive care beds make me very worried”.
As far as vaccination is concerned, the district sees itself on the right track, as well as with its test strategy. In both areas, capacities would be massively increased. This is also urgently needed, because new infections are increasing rapidly, especially among children and adolescents as well as senior citizens. An overview of the current corona situation in the district.
Schools and day care centers: According to Göbel, there are more than 600 infected people and 205 close contact persons in 130 daycare centers and schools who have already been identified by the health department. The search for other affected persons is ongoing, but can hardly be done, as the district administrator admits. In contrast to the first Corona winter, according to the health department chief Gerhard Schmid, entire classes no longer have to be quarantined because the requirements for classification as a contact person have changed; in this way only those who are directly next to the person sitting next to the infected person have to keep the house. However, this is not always possible in day-care centers. In the district, two facilities even had to be closed completely due to an accumulation of corona cases, namely in Sauerlach and Unterhaching.
Seniors’ facilities and asylum accommodation: By Thursday afternoon, 45 infected residents from ten old people’s and nursing homes had been reported to the health department. In addition, 35 employees in 17 facilities were infected with the corona virus. There are six residents and five employees as contact persons in quarantine. Because the vast majority of residents in the senior citizens’ facilities have been vaccinated twice or even boosted, District Administrator Göbel hopes that the situation will remain under control. There are currently 14 positive cases in the refugee accommodation, and another 13 people are in quarantine.
Since this week, people have been standing in line for hours at the mobile vaccination stations.
(Photo: Alessandra Schellnegger)
Immunization: Since the start of the vaccination campaign, 536 203 vaccinations have been documented in the district, 251 980 people have complete vaccination protection. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), there have so far been 39,361 so-called booster vaccinations in the district, i.e. boosts of immunization. General practitioners administered an injection to patients a total of 186,421 times (initial vaccinations, full protection and booster vaccinations). So far, the district has organized 155 special vaccination campaigns in cities and municipalities. The vaccination buses with mobile teams from the vaccination center were used a total of 71 times. In the past week alone, almost 1,500 people picked up their first, second or third syringes at these appointments.
Vaccination capacities: In the future, there will be two other permanent immunization locations in the Munich district in addition to the vaccination center in Haar: These will open on Wednesday, December 1st, in Oberhaching (Keltenring 16, Johanniter) and in Unterschleißheim (Freisinger Straße 3, Red Cross). At all locations, those wishing to be vaccinated can only be injected after registering and making an appointment via the Bayimco registration portal. Because there will be no vaccination center outpost in the Würmtal until autumn, the district wants to offer fixed vaccination days with mobile teams there. In Graefelfing, vaccinations could take place in the community center, said Göbel, the community of Planegg was also asked. As far as vaccination bus tours in the rest of the district are concerned, talks are already underway with the municipalities in order to “better steer and manage the on-site operations,” as the district administrator says. Ideally, vaccination should take place in houses suggested by the municipalities and cities. “But that won’t save us queues”, Göbel is certain. Because the rush is great and there is no longer a “territorial principle”. This means that those wishing to be vaccinated can come from anywhere to be vaccinated. It has already been determined that a lot of people from Munich are queuing for the district buses. From Saturday, November 27th, not only mobile Malteser teams from the Haar vaccination center will be on duty, but also two additional teams from Johanniter Unfallhilfe. On Monday, November 29th, three more of the BRK will support the actions. Meanwhile, according to Göbel’s words, the Maltese are looking for a hundred additional forces. In the meantime, twelve emissaries from the Technical Relief Organization (THW) are also helping to cope with “all the stupid paperwork,” as Göbel says. The district also requested support from the Bundeswehr to get the situation under control.
Tests: In the municipal test centers in the district, the demand for smears is increasing, which is not least due to the dynamic infection process and the 2-G rule. Compared to the previous week, the number of rapid antigen tests has more than doubled to 5906; the PCR tests increased from 1706 to 8815. The district is in the process of ramping up its capacities to 20,000 PCR tests and 10,300 rapid tests per day.