Pandemic in Germany: Doctors consider public festivals to be justifiable

Status: 09/17/2022 09:15 a.m

The Oktoberfest starts today in Munich – for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. Doctors are relaxed. “The Corona situation is currently well manageable,” said the former head of general practitioner Weigelt.

The general practitioners in Germany consider the folk festivals in autumn to be justifiable given the current corona situation. “The corona situation is currently well manageable,” said the former head of the German Association of General Practitioners, Ulrich Weigeldt, to the editorial network Germany. It can be assumed that the number of infections will increase again in autumn, but the initial situation this year is “much better” than in the previous pandemic years.

“On the one hand, the currently dominant omicron variant leads to significantly milder courses, and there is also much broader immunity in the population due to the vaccinations and infections that have been passed,” said Weigeldt. “Just like going to a restaurant or pub, folk festivals are part of people’s lives,” he emphasized.

Spinner: No overloading of the clinics

In order to maintain and expand this, Weigeldt called for the vaccination campaign to be restarted. Weigeldt advised that groups at higher risk, in particular, should protect themselves with a fourth vaccination in a timely manner. There are also still large vaccination gaps, for example with the first booster vaccination.

The pandemic officer of the University Hospital Rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich, Christoph Spinner, also expressed himself relaxed, although he expects a corona wave after the Oktoberfest and other folk festivals. “The total number of respiratory diseases is currently at the level of the pre-pandemic years,” he said.

Spinner expects the Oktoberfest to increase the number of corona infections two to three times, but not to overload the clinics. However, he advises people with an increased risk to refrain from visiting because of the risk of infection or at least to avoid the beer tents. “Of course, vulnerable groups in particular, such as immunosuppressed people, are still at risk of severe Covid 19 progression.”

Wiesn without Corona requirements

The 187th Oktoberfest begins in Munich today after a two-year Corona break. Hours before the official opening, long queues formed at the entrances. The Wiesn is fenced off again this year, and there are random controls at the entrances. It is true that you can celebrate without Corona requirements. However, the danger has not been completely averted. The authorities warned visitors to take a test if they had cold symptoms and not to come to the festival sick to protect others. In autumn there are numerous other folk festivals in Germany.

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