Status: 02/18/2022 09:25 a.m
Health Minister Lauterbach has appealed to the state leaders not to go beyond the relaxation of the corona measures that have been decided. The peak of the omicron wave has passed, but relapses are possible.
According to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, Germany has passed the peak of the omicron wave. At a press conference on the Corona situation, he also warned: “We are not really in safe waters yet.” The numbers could also rise again quickly if the easing is exaggerated.
Appeal to the country leaders
The federal states would have to remain cautious. “It’s all sewn to the edge.” Lauterbach appealed to the prime ministers not to go beyond the recently decided easing and to stick to the decisions. That is the maximum of the currently possible easing. What has been achieved so far must not be jeopardized.
It would therefore be wrong to make a name for yourself with quick easing. The federal and state governments had agreed on Wednesday to largely end the corona protection measures in three steps by March 20th.
More waves and variations are possible in autumn
The central task was the protection of the elderly. The measures against the number of cases worked, so the number of deaths is relatively low compared to other countries. Further waves are to be expected in autumn, and there may also be other virus variants.
RKI: “Vaccination is the best protection”
The Vice President of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Lars Schaade, emphasized that the best protection is definitely vaccination. Even if the peak of the omicron wave has now been passed, this does not mean there is any relaxation, especially for the hospitals. “The peak for the intensive care units has not yet been reached.” The risk of infection remains high, older people would have to be further estimated. “The pandemic is not over yet,” says Schaade.
incidence further decreased
The nationwide seven-day incidence has fallen again. The RKI gave the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week in the morning at 1371.7. The previous day the value was 1385.1. A week ago, the nationwide incidence was 1472.2 (previous month: 553.2).
The health authorities in Germany reported 220,048 new corona infections to the RKI within one day. A week ago there were 240,172 infections. However, the numbers are only of limited significance at the moment.
Experts assume a high number of cases that are not recorded in the RKI data. This is because testing capacities and health authorities are at their limit in many places, and contacts are only tracked to a limited extent. In addition, the number of people who no longer have their infection confirmed by a PCR test is likely to increase – the infection is therefore not included in the official statistics.