At the moment there is probably nobody who does not know at least one person who currently has Corona. If he is not even affected by it himself. Here the trainer, there the driving instructor, the neighbor or grandma. In the district of Munich, too, the numbers continue to rise, the summer wave spills into the mask-free time of the folk and final festivals. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the official seven-day incidence on Tuesday was 713.8 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants. According to these statistics, a total of 2496 district residents have been infected with the corona virus in the past seven days. But what does that mean? Everyone knows: the number of unreported cases is high, and at least officially there is hardly any testing.
If you have contact with a Covid patient and want to make sure that you have not been infected, you can take a test, but you currently have to pay for it yourself. If you don’t have any signs of infection anyway. However, it is not available for free if you have symptoms such as a sore throat, cough and runny nose and there is a certain probability that it could be Corona. You are only entitled to a PCR test if the rapid antigen test is positive. It doesn’t matter that there are repeated reports of cases in which the rapid tests don’t work, but the PCR tests do. The district office does not comment on this and only says: “We have no knowledge of this.”
The authority makes it clear: “Asymptomatic people receive a free PCR test after a positive antigen rapid test or self-test. The test must be proven accordingly.” For example, only children under the age of five, people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, pregnant women and visitors and patients or residents of hospitals, care facilities and the like receive free rapid tests. The district office also knows: “In the senior and disabled facilities, 31 residents and 30 employees are currently infected with the corona virus. As far as we know, three of the residents are in the hospital.”
Anyone who wants to attend an event indoors, will have contact with people who are at high risk of contracting Covid-19, or who have received an indication of an increased risk from the Corona warning app, can register for three Have euros tested quickly. A PCR test, however, would cost 89 euros.
“Symptomatic people are only tested as part of medical treatment – i.e. at the doctor’s,” writes the district office. But the practice is also dismissed. If the rapid test was not positive, a PCR test is usually not carried out. The situation is different for contact persons from institutions such as schools or kindergartens. According to the district office, you will receive a PCR test in all municipal test centers in the Munich district after presenting a letter from the facility.
People over 70 are also waiting for adapted vaccines for the second booster
Little is currently happening in the district of Munich when it comes to vaccinations. Almost nothing has been going on with the first, second and third vaccinations for weeks. According to the district office, 280,385 people in the district have now received full vaccination protection, and the first booster has been administered 242,493 times. Only with the second booster vaccination do the numbers go up slightly, and 29,641 people have now had a fourth injection. However, the Standing Committee on Vaccination currently only recommends it for people over 70. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has pushed ahead with the idea of vaccinating those under 60 a fourth time. But it’s not quite that simple.
The district office refers to a statement by the Bavarian Ministry of Health. Accordingly, a second booster vaccination, which is not covered by the Stiko recommendation, is carried out at the discretion of the respective vaccinating doctor. The indication for a second booster vaccination – like any medical measure – is to be assessed in each individual case according to the current state of medical science. The professional medical assessment of whether and, if so, when a second booster vaccination is appropriate is therefore at the discretion of the vaccinating doctor. In addition to the vaccinations recommended by the Stiko, other areas of application could be possible on the basis of existing approvals, which are not addressed in the Stiko recommendations, but which could be useful for the individual in accordance with his or her individual (health) situation. “In this respect, even a missing Stiko recommendation does not prevent the doctor from giving a justified vaccination,” writes the district office.
Many people are apparently still waiting with the second booster until a vaccine adapted to the new variants is approved. The district office knows of individual cases of over 70-year-olds who are still hesitating with a second booster vaccination and hope that an adapted vaccine will be approved soon. “However, we cannot say how large the proportion of all people in this age group is,” said the authority. Apparently no one knows how quickly another vaccination with a new vaccine could be postponed after a second booster has now taken place. “There are no recommendations for this yet,” the district office said.