The President of the Robert Koch Institute Lothar Wieler has again found drastic words for the current Corona situation. “The whole of Germany is one big outbreak,” said Wieler at a joint press conference with the acting Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) in Berlin. Germany is in a national emergency. In some regions, medical care can no longer be guaranteed. “It is up to us how bad the situation will be in the future and how long it will last,” Wieler continued.
The RKI President again pleaded for stricter measures: It is now important to close vaccination gaps and reduce contacts. People should stay at home. Large events should be canceled and the number of people at smaller events should be reduced. Hotspots such as bars and clubs would have to be closed. Anyone who meets particularly vulnerable people should test themselves beforehand, including those who have been vaccinated or have recovered. Indoor meetings should be avoided. Furthermore: ventilate, wear a mask, keep your distance.
Germany is a “tanker heading for a harbor wall,” continued Wieler. It is up to everyone to turn the wheel around. One shouldn’t wait for the others to do something, appealed Wieler. Once again, Wieler used the image of a spilled bucket of water: With the number of new infections reported daily by tens of thousands of people, it is inevitable that several hundred of these people will die. “This bucket of water has been poured out, we can no longer get this water in there,” warned Wieler.
Federal Health Minister Spahn also found drastic words: “It’s ten past twelve.” The situation is still serious, more serious than last week. “We are in a national emergency that also needs a joint national effort,” Spahn continued.
Booster vaccinations are still important to bring the dynamics under control, said Spahn. Even if the booster vaccinations could not help in the short term to break the infection process. But he sees an increase in the ordering of vaccination doses. This week four million vaccine doses have been ordered, and orders for six million vaccine doses have been received for next week. That is good, because you need more speed with the booster vaccinations. The federal government has promised to finance the vaccination centers until the end of May. For the booster vaccinations, the vaccine from Moderna should also be used more intensively. Many of these cans are in stock that one does not want to let expire, explained Spahn.
Spahn emphasized the importance of the resolutions of the Prime Minister’s Conference, which took place on Thursday. You need the agreed “national tools to break the emergency”, even if the infection situation is very different from region to region. “I would have liked a Prime Minister’s conference three weeks earlier,” continued Spahn. But it is good that there is now a uniform approach between the federal and state governments. This must now be consistently implemented and monitored. (19.11.2021)
Federal Council votes for Infection Protection Act
The Federal Council unanimously approved the Corona law of the traffic light parties passed by the Bundestag on Thursday. Among other things, this provides for proof of vaccination, recovery or a test (3 G) at the workplace as well as on buses and trains. In addition, far-reaching 2-G rules are to come into force where the incidence of hospitalization exceeds certain thresholds and a mandatory vaccination for nursing professions is to be introduced. On the other hand, the law no longer provides for comprehensive school closings, curfews or general lockdowns. The 3-G rules in the workplace should apply from next Wednesday. Companies should check this on a daily basis. In the worst case, if you do not want to provide evidence, you should face dismissal. (You can find an overview of all resolutions here.)
The approval of the Union-led federal states was by no means certain on Thursday. The law did not go far enough for the Union, above all it criticized the expiry of the so-called epidemic situation of national scope. “You can’t bring that together.” It is a fatal signal to the population, said Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU). Hesse nevertheless agreed. In the end, one should not be left without a legal basis for corona measures, explained Bouffier. The North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) said that the states must have effective means to contain the pandemic at all times. “We need a sufficient instrument box.”
Without the approval of the countries with the CDU and CSU in government, there would have been no majority in the Bundesrat. After the Bund-Länder round on Thursday, however, a compromise emerged: It was agreed that the law introduced by the SPD, Greens and FDP should be evaluated in three weeks and, if necessary, improved. (11/19/2021)
RKI names new high-risk areas
The federal government classifies Belgium and most of the Netherlands as Corona high-risk areas due to the sharp increase in infection numbers from Sunday. This was announced by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Greece and Ireland, which are popular with holidaymakers, now also fall into this category. In the case of the Netherlands, the overseas territories of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten are excluded.
Anyone who enters from a high-risk area and is not fully vaccinated or recovered has to be in quarantine for ten days and can only get rid of it with a negative test five days after arrival at the earliest. Removed from the list of high risk areas on Sunday: French Guiana, New Caledonia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guiana and Suriname. First the newspapers of the Funke media group reported about it.
In the meantime, there were no corona high-risk areas in the European Union in late summer. Countries and regions with a particularly high risk of infection are classified as high-risk areas. But it is not just the infection numbers that are decisive. Other criteria are the speed at which the virus is spreading, the burden on the health system or a lack of data on the corona situation.
The classification as a high-risk area is automatically accompanied by a travel warning from the Federal Foreign Office. It makes it easier for tourists to cancel trips that have already been booked free of charge, but does not mean a travel ban. (11/19/2021)
The incidence rises to 340.7 – again a new high
The nationwide seven-day incidence has again risen to a high. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week on Friday morning at 340.7. The previous day the value was 336.9, a week ago it was 263.7 (previous month: 75.1). The RKI also reported 52,970 new corona infections. Exactly one week ago there were 48,640 infections. More than 65,000 new infections had been reported the day before.
According to the new information, 201 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. A week ago there were 191 deaths. The RKI stated the number of those who had recovered at 4,588,200. The number of people who died with or with a proven infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 98,739. (11/19/2021)
Patient advocates criticize hospital burdens
From the point of view of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, the federal and state governments have still not created a reliable benchmark for assessing the corona situation. The hospitalization rate is neither a current figure, nor does the value reflect the actual burden on the hospitals, said board member Eugen Brysch. A “Covid-19 radar” for the clinics, which takes daily parameters into account, is overdue. This included people infected with corona, Covid 19 sufferers, corona deceased and the utilization of all wards.
The federal and state governments agreed on Thursday that uniformly tougher corona measures should take effect when certain stress thresholds in the clinics are exceeded. The benchmark should be the hospitalization rate in the respective country. To this end, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) records reported clinical admissions of corona patients per 100,000 inhabitants over a seven-day period. Specifically, based on this, there will be three levels in the future, each with further restrictions – including nationwide access rules only for vaccinated and convalescent people (2 G). (11/19/2021)
Municipalities are demanding tough crackdowns
The German Association of Towns and Municipalities calls on the federal states to take tough action. “We know from the past that, in particular, contact restrictions and the reduction of events can slow down the incidence of infection,” says the chief executive of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, Gerd Landsberg Rheinische Post According to a preliminary report. Therefore, countries should make use of the power to reduce the number of participants in large events such as football matches. The 2-G plus rule should be introduced for indoor events. (11/19/2021)
Medical Association calls for the MPK resolutions to be tightened up at the beginning of December
The German Medical Association welcomes the resolutions of the federal-state meeting in principle, but the measures may have to be refined at the beginning of December. “It remains to be seen whether they are sufficient to get the infection situation under control and to prevent the clinics from being overloaded,” says medical president Klaus Reinhardt of the Funke media group, according to a preliminary report. It is important to collect and collect data and knowledge about the decisions by the agreed evaluation of the resolutions on December 9th, so that we can take action if necessary. (11/19/2021)
Social association also wants Corona care bonus for home care
The social association VdK is calling for the new Corona care bonus to be extended to home care. “It doesn’t just need a bonus for nurses in facilities, we demand this for all those who look after their relatives at home,” says VdK President Verena Bentele of the Funke media group according to a preliminary report. They had always been forgotten in the previous corona waves and would just be back. There are additional costs in home care for protective clothing, face masks or disinfectants, says Bentele. (11/19/2021)
Survey: majority in favor of stricter corona measures
A large majority of the population is open to stricter corona measures. This is confirmed by a Forsa survey that, according to a preliminary report, was carried out on behalf of the editorial network Germany. When asked which measures should still be allowed after the end of the epidemic situation at the federal and state levels, 78 percent were in favor of the mask requirement. 69 percent of those surveyed agreed to a possible order to introduce the 2-G rule across the board. 38 percent are in favor of compulsory vaccination. The survey also clearly shows that hardly anyone is in favor of closing schools and daycare centers. Only eleven percent were in favor of this option. About 1000 people were interviewed. The statistical margin of error is three percentage points. (11/19/2021)