According to the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, compulsory vaccination would rather overcome the current divide in society than deepen it. On the one hand, prejudices would be dispelled, says the head of the CSU World on sunday. “Many people would find that it is not so bad to get vaccinated – on the contrary, it even protects and gives freedom.”
On the other hand, the obligation to imitate helps some to save face. “A uniform duty that applies to everyone creates a bond.” The mood in the country is currently even more difficult than before the first Corona wave, there is an extreme political instrumentalization of the topic. “None of us saw it that way in the dimension,” said Söder. “I overestimated the willingness to be vaccinated and underestimated the belief in conspiracy theories.” (25.12.2021)
Holetschek for severe penalties for violating a possible vaccination requirement
The chairman of the Conference of Health Ministers, Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU), proposes extensive sanctions for violations of a possible general obligation to vaccinate against Covid-19. In addition to fines, one could also think about financial disadvantages in the statutory health insurance, for example, he told the editorial network Germany on Saturday.
As examples of so-called malus regulations, he cited higher contributions for unvaccinated people, participation in the treatment costs or the cancellation of sick pay: “Because the risk for unvaccinated people to get seriously ill with corona is significantly higher.”
Participation in treatment costs and the cancellation of sick pay are already possible today for follow-up treatments due to complications in cosmetic surgery, tattoos or piercings. In these cases, the health insurance company has to “give the insured a reasonable share of the costs and refuse or reclaim sick pay in whole or in part for the duration of this treatment,” says the Social Security Code. There is a similar regulation if insured persons have “intentionally contracted” an illness. (25.12.2021)
Nationwide incidence drops to 242.9
The nationwide seven-day incidence fell again compared to the previous day. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week on Saturday morning at 242.9. For comparison: the previous day the value was 265.8.
The health authorities in Germany reported 22,214 new corona infections to the RKI within one day. The RKI points out that less test and reporting activity can be expected during the holidays and at the turn of the year. Therefore, the officially reported number of cases could only show an incomplete picture of the corona situation in Germany.
According to the new information, 157 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. The number of people who died with or involving a proven infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 110,276. The RKI has counted 6,981,281 detected infections with Sars-CoV-2 since the beginning of the pandemic. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections are not recognized. (25.12.2021)
NRW is now updating data after criticism
North Rhine-Westphalia is changing the previous strategy and is now updating the data over Christmas after previous criticism. As the Landeszentrum Gesundheit (LZG) announced on its homepage, it will “deviate from its original plan” also forward the data provided by the health authorities to the RKI over the Christmas holidays and at the New Year. The reason is the great interest in the current corona situation. Most recently, the state government referred to the uncertain reporting situation in the health authorities on Christmas days and did not publish any new data on Friday. (25.12.2021)
Wüst is preparing citizens for further corona restrictions for 2022
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) is encouraging citizens to understand further foreseeable corona loads in 2022. “We are doing everything to ensure that normality is returned soon, but we as politicians have to be honest: Corona will also affect us in the new year still very busy and demanding, “said the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Conference of the German Press Agency. “Even in the new year, restrictions in everyday life will remain necessary. Omikron is a whole new dimension of challenge.” Wüst emphasized that these weeks will be about significantly reducing the number of contacts. Masks and the well-known hygiene measures would also accompany the citizens for several months.
Meanwhile, Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) warns of a hasty debate about stricter corona rules in view of the Omikron variant. “We mustn’t overuse people,” said Woidke of the German Press Agency in Potsdam. “You have to be taken along and understand the measures. A new package of measures every week would only lead to a lack of understanding.” Acceptance is the basic requirement for mutual success. He was confident that, with the appropriate measures and understanding among the population, there would be no worst-case scenario with ten million infected people in the second week of January.
The heads of government of the federal and state levels decided on tighter restrictions. On January 7th, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to meet again with the country leaders to discuss how to fight the pandemic. According to Woidke, the prime ministers had agreed to give advice beforehand if there should be a significant additional burden on the health system. (25.12.2021)
RKI weekly report: Omikron has arrived in all federal states
The Omikron variant has meanwhile arrived in all federal states. Even if the majority of the infections are still caused by the delta variant of the coronavirus, the number of detected omicron cases has increased significantly in recent weeks, writes the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in its weekly report on Thursday evening.
By December 21, 441 Omicron infections confirmed by genome sequencing had been transmitted. According to a specific PCR test, it is suspected in 1438 cases. In Germany, however, only a small part of the positive samples are tested for Omikron.
“Previous reporting data on symptoms indicate a rather mild course in infected people with a full vaccination or booster vaccination,” writes the RKI. According to the RKI, information on the symptoms was provided for a total of more than 1200 cases. Mostly none or mild symptoms were mentioned, the most common colds, coughs and sore throats. So far, according to the RKI weekly report, 28 Covid sufferers, in whom Omikron was detected, came to the hospital, and one person has demonstrably died.
However, experts have always emphasized that with the expected high number of infected people in the course of the rapid spread of the omicron variant, a large number of people will become more seriously ill at the same time and have to be treated in hospital.
RKI boss Lothar Wieler warns: “The trend is crystal clear: with a doubling time of around three days, the new variant could already account for the majority of all cases of infection in our country in the next one, two or three weeks at the latest.”
Corona outbreaks with the new Omikron variant are, according to Wieler, on a different level than before. “The outbreaks at Omikron are impressive. A lot of people who are in a room with an infected person can become infected. A lot of them also get sick,” said Lothar Wieler in an interview with the editorial network Germany (RND, Friday). “It’s a different dimension than what we know from Delta.” Delta has been the predominant coronavirus variant in Germany for months.
Vaccinated people who were vaccinated a long time ago could also become ill and contribute to the transmission of the virus, said Wieler. However, according to previous knowledge, the vaccination protects “very well” from severe courses. The risk of the virus spreading increases with the number of people in a room and the longer they have been in contact. “That is why there are defined hotspots. These are events at which there is intense celebration – such as clubs and discos, but also large private celebrations such as weddings,” said Wieler.
On a new overview page, the RKI stated on Thursday the number of reliably proven and probable Omikron cases in Germany as 3198 (data status December 22nd). Compared to the previous day, 810 records were added – they relate to cases since the end of November. Most of the evidence therefore comes from this and last week.