According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the recent significant increase in the number of corona infections has also led to more corona outbreaks in medical facilities and nursing homes.
In the past week there were 220 (previous week: 155) active outbreaks in medical facilities such as clinics, in old people’s and nursing homes there were 413 (previous week: 301), as the RKI wrote in its Corona weekly report. “These developments can be interpreted as a direct result of the strong spread in recent weeks.”
As in the weeks before, according to a random sample, almost all corona infections in this country can be traced back to the omicron subline BA.5. For weeks, their shares have been 95 to 97 percent. The current data on detected variants contained in the weekly report refers to the week before last – there the proportion is almost 96 percent.
The seven-day incidence – i.e. the number of infections recorded per 100,000 inhabitants per week – continued to rise, but not as much as before. The increase last week was 28 percent (previous week: 54 percent). However, the incidences only provide an incomplete picture of the number of infections. Another indicator is how many doctor visits there are from people with a corona infection and symptoms of an acute respiratory disease. That was about 400,000 last week – about 280,000 a week earlier.
Patient advocates want free citizen tests
In view of the sharp increase in the number of cases, patient advocates are calling for the free corona citizen tests to be returned. The federal government had “negligently shut down the test offer, especially for cost reasons,” said the board of directors of the Patient Protection Foundation, Eugen Brysch, the editorial network Germany (RND). “The meaningful corona radar was thus switched off.”
But there is also good news: the number of outpatient visits to the doctor for acute respiratory diseases has fallen slightly in the past week. But there are more visits to the doctor for such diseases than in the previous year. According to the RKI, rhinoviruses, the corona virus and influenza viruses in particular are currently leading to visits to the doctor for acute respiratory diseases.
Lauterbach presents new Corona campaign
The RKI warned that the infection pressure would increase again significantly in autumn. This not only affects Covid-19 but also other acute respiratory diseases. Vaccination is the best prevention against severe corona disease. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wants to present a new vaccination and corona campaign in Berlin today. The focus is particularly on second vaccination boosters.
A study has just shown that 19 out of 20 people in Germany have at least already developed basic immunity to the corona virus – either through vaccination or through infection. This emerges from the interim results of a representative immune study funded by the federal government, which the Federal Ministry of Research published on Thursday.
