Changes to “Federal Emergency Brake”: It should no longer just depend on the incidence

In the event of a possible return to the “federal emergency brake” with increasing numbers of infections, the seven-day incidence should no longer be the main criterion. The government wants to use several factors in the future.

The federal government no longer wants to automatically link a possibly threatened return to the so-called federal emergency brake with increasing numbers of infections to a value of the seven-day incidence. This was announced by government spokesman Steffen Seibert. This will be decided depending on the number of cases, the progress in vaccination and the scientific assessment.

The relationship between the number of cases and the number of intensive care patients may have changed. Therefore, more data should be taken into account more in the future.

The Federal Ministry of Health announced that the clinics should report more details on Covid 19 cases. In addition to the occupancy of intensive care units, all hospital admissions due to corona must be transmitted, plus the age, type of treatment and vaccination status of the patients. The corresponding ordinance should be brought on the way quickly, it said from the ministry.

“No move away from the seven-day incidence”

“This is not to be understood as a departure from the seven-day incidence,” said a spokesman for the health ministry. There is also no change in political strategy associated with it. The incidence is still an important parameter because, among other things, it shows trends. When asked whether measures such as school closings will continue to be linked to the level of incidence in the future, the spokesman referred to the responsibility of the federal states in the school sector.

Government spokesman Seibert said that thanks to the vaccinations, among other things, they are in a pretty good position. Economy and trade could work, cultural life would return. “But that doesn’t mean that we would already be in a normal situation if you mean ‘normal’ before the pandemic.” A look at neighboring countries makes it clear that low case numbers could quickly explode again. This went hand in hand with risks. More people could get sick again. The vaccination changed the total bill. “But we are not yet adequately prepared in the event that the numbers really rise again,” said Seibert.

The “Bild” newspaper had previously reported that the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) wanted to introduce hospitalization as an additional leading indicator. “Several indicators are still necessary for evaluation, but the weighting of the indicators among each other changes”, according to “Bild” in an RKI paper. The institute justifies the addition of hospitalization with the “consequences of increasing basic immunity”.

According to the report, the RKI expects a “decrease in the proportion of severe cases” and therefore calls for a “greater focus on the consequences of the infection”, including serious illnesses with hospitalization, deaths and long-term consequences.

Hospital society demands inclusion of the positive rate

The German Hospital Society endorsed the federal government’s plans. “I think it is absolutely sensible to also include the hospital occupancy in order to assess the dangers of the pandemic and take appropriate practical protective measures,” said the managing director of the German Hospital Society, Gerald Gass, of the “RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland”.

Gaß called for the positive rate of corona tests to be included when taking protective measures. The number of positive tests is only meaningful if it is compared with the tests carried out. “So far, this has received too little attention internationally in the pandemic.”

Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder believes it is premature to move away from the seven-day incidence to assess the corona situation. However, it is “very useful” to put the Corona hospital numbers in relation to this and also to find a coefficient that takes into account the high number of people vaccinated. Perhaps one also has to increase limit values.

Vaccination campaign stalled

The Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans welcomed the move by the federal government. “I believe that it is very important that we do not just stare at the incidence this fall,” said the CDU politician in a joint statement Morning magazine from ARD and ZDF. The fact that the values ​​are currently going up because of the delta variant can be seen across Europe. “It is important that we increasingly consider factors such as the burden on the health system, the occupancy of the intensive care units, the way in which patients arrive – all of these must play a role.”

He thinks it is wrong to “ignite” a regulation like the “Federal Emergency Brake” again from an incidence of 100. ” He also doesn’t see that this is coming. On the other hand, it is imperative to promote vaccination progress. Incentives like a lottery are “definitely an option”.

However, the vaccination campaign in Germany has stalled. According to Federal Health Minister Spahn, as few people in Germany were vaccinated on Sunday as they were last in February. “Unlike in February, there is now enough vaccine”, Spahn writes on Twitter and adds: “It remains: Please get vaccinated!” According to him, so far 35.4 million Germans or 42.6 percent have full vaccination protection, 48.6 million or 58.5 percent have been vaccinated at least once.