RKI weekly report: the zenith of the summer wave seems to have passed

The peak of the summer wave seems to have been passed – that is the cautious assessment of the Robert Koch Institute. However, the RKI does not give the all-clear. The health system continues to be burdened.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has recently observed a flattening of the corona infection process and therefore sees the zenith of the summer wave passed. The RKI reported this in its weekly report.

The nationwide seven-day incidence fell by a total of 27 percent in the past week after the already significant decline in the previous week and declined in all federal states and age groups.

In addition, the number of Sars-CoV-2 infected people with symptoms of an acute respiratory infection in Germany and the number of visits to the doctor by infected people have fallen, “so that the current wave peak seems to have been exceeded”.

Fewer people hospitalized with Covid-19

The number of hospital admissions of people who had a severe acute respiratory infection and a Covid 19 diagnosis had fallen in the past week, as had the number of patients with a Covid 19 diagnosis in intensive care units.

The RKI also recently spoke of a decline in deaths related to the virus – in the past week with 372 deaths reported compared to 444 in the previous week. The data showed that even in the case of severe illnesses, the current wave appears to have peaked. The RKI experts warn that people over the age of 80 are still most affected by severe illnesses.

Infection pressure high in all age groups

Despite the decline and the improved situation in the past week, the infection pressure remains high in all age groups – and also the burden on the health system.

With a view to the next few weeks, the institute expects a “continued high number of hospitalizations, Covid 19 patients requiring intensive care and deaths, especially in older age groups”. Accordingly, the RKI continues to call for “absolutely” complying with the recommendations for avoiding infection and emphasizes the importance of vaccinations against the corona virus.