Corona in Germany: NRW remains a hotspot – Spahn names plan for calculating the new lockdown formula

The corona numbers in Germany continue to rise slightly. The incidence in North Rhine-Westphalia is almost twice as high as the nationwide. The news ticker.

Update from August 24th, 1.40 p.m.: Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had already announced that the previous incidence value of 50, which is still anchored in the Infection Protection Act as a benchmark for stricter measures, has had its day. The law is now to be changed. In the future, the number of hospital admissions due to Covid-19 should also play a decisive role.

“We have empirical values from last winter, for example from December and January, when we had a very, very heavy load in the clinics,” Spahn said in an interview with Welt on Tuesday. Together with the federal states, they are now looking at what the correct indicators are for further action. “We can derive it from the last two waves.”

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The health minister again called for the corona vaccination. The number of those who have not been vaccinated is still so large that in the event of a very rapid infection there could still be a burden on the health system. “At the moment we are seeing a pandemic for the unvaccinated,” said Spahn. More than 90 percent of intensive care patients with Covid-19 are not vaccinated.

NRW becomes Germany’s corona hotspot: Laschet finds possible reasons

Update from August 24, 12.55 p.m.: North Rhine-Westphalia is still Germany’s corona hotspot on Tuesday. According to the RKI, the seven-day incidence for the most populous federal state is 108.4 – almost twice as high as the nationwide incidence (see first report) . All urban and rural districts in North Rhine-Westphalia have exceeded the incidence of 50. The city of Leverkusen has the highest value with an incidence of 202.8.

NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) attributed the increase in the corona numbers in his state to several reasons on Tuesday. On the one hand, he named the densely populated living space in the Ruhr area. In addition, he attributed the increase in incidence to travelers returning from the country or to entry from high-risk areas. “I assume that this wave will continue, depending on where the school holidays end,” says Laschet.

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Corona in Germany: General practitioners welcome the new Spahn plan

Update from August 24th, 10.15 a.m.: The General Practitioners Association supports the plans of the Federal Government and Health Minister Spahn (see first report) to no longer link the restrictions in public life to the corona incidence alone. “The assessment of the infection process should have long since included more aspects than just the incidence,” explained the chairman of the association, Ulrich Weigeldt, of the Rheinische Post . “The planned consideration of the hospitalization rate is therefore a correct first step, and it was high time for that.” “This is moderate at the moment, and it is mainly caused by people who are not vaccinated.”

Gernot Marx, President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), sees it similarly. “We support the decision by Health Minister Spahn,” he said on Tuesday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”, referring to the increasing vaccination rates. The incidence is still being considered and remains “relevant” for the development in the health care system, emphasized Marx. There is generally a relationship between the number of new infections and hospital occupancy. At the moment, however, this is “no problem at all”. However, the situation must be monitored on a daily basis.

Corona numbers in Germany: trend continues

First report from August 24th: Berlin – The trend continues: the seven-day incidence has again increased slightly nationwide. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) * on Tuesday morning, it was 58.0 – the previous day the value was 56.4, a week ago it was 37.4. The health authorities in Germany reported 5,747 new corona infections to the RKI within one day (RKI dashboard – August 24, 3.15 a.m.) . A week ago, the value for Germany was 3912 infections. According to the new information, 42 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours.

Politicians continue to discuss the incidence: Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) defended the planned departure from the corona incidence as a key indicator of restrictions in Germany. He said on Monday in the ARD “Tagesthemen” that nobody had said that the incidence should no longer be a benchmark. “What is clear: The 50s incidence, like her
is currently in the law, has had its day. “

Corona in Germany: Incidence is increasing slightly – long distances for corona test

With the 3G rule, some need a corona test again to get to restaurants (indoor catering) or cinemas, for example. But long distances are now sometimes necessary for this. In recent weeks, many operators have decided to close test sites or intend to do so: In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, the number of test centers recently fell by 640 to 8127 within four weeks, as the NRW Ministry of Health announced at the request of dpa. At the end of May it was 9064. It was similar in other federal states. According to the ministry there, 2093 test centers are currently active in Lower Saxony, and a good 600 are listed in a reporting portal as “out of service”.

The reason is the prospect of falling demand because there are more and more people who are vaccinated. In addition, the tests will no longer be free from October 11th. The operator Covimedical said they would react “dynamically to changes” with a view to presumably lower demand in October.

The number of corona test stations is falling – in some places still increased demand

In the short term, however, the corona test demand recently picked up in some places, for example in North Rhine-Westphalia. This was also due to vacationers who, for example, had to take a test before returning to their work place. In addition, new rules stipulate that people who have not been vaccinated and are not considered to have recovered, in some places now need a negative test result. In October at the latest, when citizens have to pay for the tests, the need is likely to weaken. In Lower Saxony, the number of tests during the summer holidays that were still ongoing there fell significantly.

Last week, the drugstore chain dm announced the closure of its currently around 200 test points on September 30th. The company justified this with lower demand and the abolition of the free “citizen tests” in October. Other providers such as Ecolog with around 500 test centers in Germany do not want to reduce their offer for the time being. At the same time, the company emphasizes that it is closely following the pandemic and the political course. And Corona is not over yet: A researcher sees the “next phase of the pandemic” at the door: “Covid-22 could get even worse” *.

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Corona: “We continue to see tests as an important component in combating the pandemic”

In addition to doctors’ surgeries, pharmacies were also involved in the Coronatest business for a long time. But in the course of the summer some pharmacies decided not to offer any more testing. There are currently around 5000 Coronatest pharmacies registered on “www.mein-apothekenmanager.de”, which is the same number as in June. However, according to a spokesman for the Federal Pharmacy Association Abda, many pharmacies were not yet registered on the portal – the actual number should have been higher at the time. Almost all rapid test pharmacies are now listed on the website. As a result, numerous pharmacies have now reduced their testing options.

The operating companies who want to stay in the market, meanwhile, emphasize the importance of their business. “We continue to see tests as an important component in combating the pandemic,” says the head of Covimedical, Christoph Neumeier. The focus is now on PCR tests *, which are more reliable than rapid antigen tests. (dpa / cibo) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

List of rubric lists: © Eibner-Pressefoto / Imago