Status: 07/09/2021 10:19 a.m.
According to the RKI, the nationwide seven-day incidence is now 5.5 – and is thus increasing. In order to prevent a fourth wave, intensive care physicians are calling for the mask requirement to be adhered to.
The seven-day incidence of corona infections increased on the third day in a row. It is now 5.5 new infections in seven days per 100,000 inhabitants. One day ago it was 5.2, two days ago it was 5.1. Within one day, the health authorities reported 949 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute. A week ago the value was 649 infections.
The highest seven-day incidence in the third wave was on April 26, 2021 at 169.3. After that, apart from a few outliers, it initially fell quite steadily.
However, some experts are now questioning the seven-day incidence as a point of reference – also because it has decoupled from the death toll. This makes the value increasingly imprecise. 49 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. A week ago there were 69 deaths.
The R value is now 1.09
The R value, which shows the average number of people infected by an infected person, had recently increased and, according to the RKI, was 1.09 on Thursday. This means that 100 infected people theoretically infect 109 more people. The R-value represents the occurrence of the infection 8 to 16 days ago. If it is below 1 for a longer period of time, the infection process subsides; if it is consistently higher, the number of cases increases.
For many weeks, the R value was well below 1.According to experts, the increase could be due to the spread of the more contagious Delta variant and the relaxation of the corona restrictions.
“It needs a vaccination rate of 85 percent”
Intensive care physicians are therefore calling for the mask requirement to be adhered to until 85 percent of adults have been vaccinated. “As long as a vaccination rate of 85 percent among adults is not reached, we should refrain from further relaxation and stick to the mask requirement,” said the President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine, Gernot Marx, the editorial network Germany.
Otherwise there is a risk of a fourth wave in autumn. “We will only be able to declare the pandemic to be over with a vaccination rate of 85 percent among those over 18,” said Marx. Until then, you have to continue testing a lot, tracking chains of infection and complying with hygiene rules. This includes “at least wearing surgical masks in all interior rooms”, including in schools. In Germany, more than 40 percent of the population are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Almost 58 percent received at least one injection.