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dpa
Berlin
Germany has posted a record seven-day incidence of 497.1 coronavirus infections per 100,000 residents, the country’s national disease control agency reported on Saturday, although experts cautioned the real metric to watch was hospitalizations.
This was the highest seven-day incidence figure since the start of the pandemic and compared to 470.6 a day earlier, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said in Berlin.
The agency also reported 78,022 new infections within a 24-hour period, up from 55,889 infections a week ago.
The agency on Friday said that 3.23 coronavirus patients per 100,000 inhabitants were admitted to hospitals in the current seven-day period, up from 3.09 on Thursday. The figure is not updated at the weekend.
The figure has risen again for the first time in a few days, according to the disease control agency.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Friday that the “right package of measures are in place” to lessen the current Omicron wave of the coronavirus pandemic, even as daily new infections have been skyrocketing. In the past few weeks, the federal government and states have adopted stricter contact rules - especially when it comes to unvaccinated people - and shortened quarantine periods.
The more-transmissible Omicron strain of Covid-19 is now prevalent in Germany, the RKI said, bringing the country into a “new phase of the pandemic,” RKI president Lothar Wieler said. He said case numbers alone would not be the decisive issue going forward. “The more important thing is how many people will become seriously ill with Covid-19 and how much of a burden the health system will then be,” he said on Friday.
Meanwhile doctors called for better monitoring of cases in hospitals, although the Omicron wave is not yet leading to a significant increase in the number of patients needing intensive care.
Those who catch Omicron are mainly younger than 35, Gernot Marx, head of the association for intensive and emergency medical care, told RND.
They are much less likely to suffer from a severe case of the disease compared to older people, he said.
“They are not yet or only occasionally patients in our intensive care units.” Compared to the Delta strain, far fewer people will be as ill, he predicted. “Should the incidence rise sharply due to the very rapid spread, this is then of course still a problem,” he wsaid.
“So we hope that the number of Covid-19 patients will still drop significantly before the next wave comes.” Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus S?der also called for close monitoring of the situation and the appropriate measures.
“Omicron is not Delta. That means we have to adjust exactly which rules are mandatory, but also proportionate.” S?der said a broad approach was needed, in comments to the Münchner Merkur newspaper.
“It will no longer be enough to look at the situation only medically and in virological terms. We must also pay more attention to the societal and social components.” Others, such as Clemens Wendtner, an infectious diseases specialist, called for fourth shots against Covid-19 as soon as possible, as far as supplies permit.
“For me, a fourth vaccination four to six months after the third vaccination would be an adequate measure,” he told dpa.
He acknowledged that this step had not been officially recommended yet given the limited data available. And he noted many people were hoping to wait until a vaccine was available that is adapted to the Omicron strain. “But I’m afraid that will take too long,” said Wendtner.
He said the Omicron wave is approaching, while the new vaccines were not expected before April.
The RKI meanwhile reported on Saturday a daily death toll of 235 coronavirus-related deaths, down from 286 a week before.
So far, 115,572 people have died in Germany after catching the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
Berlin
Germany has posted a record seven-day incidence of 497.1 coronavirus infections per 100,000 residents, the country’s national disease control agency reported on Saturday, although experts cautioned the real metric to watch was hospitalizations.
This was the highest seven-day incidence figure since the start of the pandemic and compared to 470.6 a day earlier, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said in Berlin.
The agency also reported 78,022 new infections within a 24-hour period, up from 55,889 infections a week ago.
The agency on Friday said that 3.23 coronavirus patients per 100,000 inhabitants were admitted to hospitals in the current seven-day period, up from 3.09 on Thursday. The figure is not updated at the weekend.
The figure has risen again for the first time in a few days, according to the disease control agency.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Friday that the “right package of measures are in place” to lessen the current Omicron wave of the coronavirus pandemic, even as daily new infections have been skyrocketing. In the past few weeks, the federal government and states have adopted stricter contact rules - especially when it comes to unvaccinated people - and shortened quarantine periods.
The more-transmissible Omicron strain of Covid-19 is now prevalent in Germany, the RKI said, bringing the country into a “new phase of the pandemic,” RKI president Lothar Wieler said. He said case numbers alone would not be the decisive issue going forward. “The more important thing is how many people will become seriously ill with Covid-19 and how much of a burden the health system will then be,” he said on Friday.
Meanwhile doctors called for better monitoring of cases in hospitals, although the Omicron wave is not yet leading to a significant increase in the number of patients needing intensive care.
Those who catch Omicron are mainly younger than 35, Gernot Marx, head of the association for intensive and emergency medical care, told RND.
They are much less likely to suffer from a severe case of the disease compared to older people, he said.
“They are not yet or only occasionally patients in our intensive care units.” Compared to the Delta strain, far fewer people will be as ill, he predicted. “Should the incidence rise sharply due to the very rapid spread, this is then of course still a problem,” he wsaid.
“So we hope that the number of Covid-19 patients will still drop significantly before the next wave comes.” Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus S?der also called for close monitoring of the situation and the appropriate measures.
“Omicron is not Delta. That means we have to adjust exactly which rules are mandatory, but also proportionate.” S?der said a broad approach was needed, in comments to the Münchner Merkur newspaper.
“It will no longer be enough to look at the situation only medically and in virological terms. We must also pay more attention to the societal and social components.” Others, such as Clemens Wendtner, an infectious diseases specialist, called for fourth shots against Covid-19 as soon as possible, as far as supplies permit.
“For me, a fourth vaccination four to six months after the third vaccination would be an adequate measure,” he told dpa.
He acknowledged that this step had not been officially recommended yet given the limited data available. And he noted many people were hoping to wait until a vaccine was available that is adapted to the Omicron strain. “But I’m afraid that will take too long,” said Wendtner.
He said the Omicron wave is approaching, while the new vaccines were not expected before April.
The RKI meanwhile reported on Saturday a daily death toll of 235 coronavirus-related deaths, down from 286 a week before.
So far, 115,572 people have died in Germany after catching the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
