Corona in Germany: PCR positive rate at "record high" – laboratory association raises the alarm

The new Corona timetable from March 20th is available. The nationwide seven-day incidence has risen for the seventh day in a row. All information about the corona pandemic in the news ticker.

Update from March 9, 1:03 p.m .: The number of daily vaccinations against the corona virus was around 95,000 yesterday. That’s a bit more than the days before, but still lower compared to the numbers from early and mid-February. This is based on data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). In February, the value was above 100,000 on most days, with a few above 200,000. For weeks, the majority of daily vaccinations have been booster shots.

One disappointment so far has been the Novavax vaccination campaign, which many had been hoping for. Almost 30,000 people have now been vaccinated with the new Novavax preparation. The vaccinations had started in Germany about ten days ago.

The proportion of people with basic protection, which usually requires two injections, is still at least 75.6 percent of the population (at least 62.9 million people). At least 57.5 percent (47.9 million) have now also received a booster vaccination.

New Corona rules for the summer

Update from March 9, 10:15 a.m .: The new Corona timetable from March 20 for Germany is available, the media report. From that date, almost all measures will largely be eliminated. A back door for new tightening remains. The countries get a “hotspot” rule. According to the draft resolution, countries can also continue to prescribe general protective measures, such as the obligation to wear masks in care facilities, hospitals and in local public transport. The federal states can also decide to present proof of vaccination, convalescence or test evidence in institutions and companies if the situation worsens.

Austria suspends compulsory vaccination

Update from March 9th, 10:05 a.m .: Austria suspends the corona vaccination requirement. However, a new decision on compulsory vaccination is to be made in three months. From mid-March, violations of the vaccination requirement should have been punished with up to 3,600 euros. Austria was the first EU country to introduce mandatory vaccinations from the age of 18 at the beginning of February.

Corona incidence rises above 1,300 again

Update from March 9, 9.44 a.m .: The nationwide 7-day incidence is 1319.0 on Wednesday (previous day: 1293.6). This means that the value has risen for the seventh day in a row. Within one day, 215,854 new corona infections and 314 deaths were registered.

Experts assume that the number of corona cases is high, which is not recorded in the RKI data. The health authorities can hardly keep up with the reports, and the contacts can only be traced to a limited extent.

The situation in the intensive care units has hardly changed for weeks. 2103 Covid patients currently have to be treated in intensive care, 931 of them are artificially ventilated. This emerges from the data of the DIVI intensive care register on Wednesday.

Corona case numbers on Wednesday (March 9, 2022)

Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, 16,242,070 people in Germany have been shown to have been infected with Sars-CoV-2. To date, 124,764 deaths related to Corona have been recorded. The RKI estimates the number of people who have recovered to be 12,753,700.

Corona in Germany: PCR positive rate at “record high” – laboratory association raises the alarm

Update from March 8, 7 p.m.: Karl Lauterbach announced in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Dresden that the federal government was working on a “hotspot rule” after March 20. The consultations on the Corona rules are about to be completed, according to the Federal Minister of Health (SPD).

Corona numbers in NRW: experts warn of “recklessness”

Update from March 8, 5:19 p.m .: The corona situation is coming to a head in NRW. Experts therefore warn against further easing: “The number of infections has been rising again for five days, in Cologne the corona numbers have skyrocketed after carnival. So we can’t give the all-clear for a long time and have to comply with the protective measures for a long time. Otherwise there is a risk of another corona summer,” said Dr. Hans-Albert Gehle, President of the Medical Association of Westphalia-Lippe, of the West German General Newspaper. It is therefore necessary to continue to increase the vaccination rate.

Matthias Blum, Managing Director of the North Rhine-Westphalia Hospital Society (KGNW), is also concerned. According to Blum, the easing that has already been decided and partly implemented would have “triggered a new carelessness about the corona virus” and that with the number of infections increasing every day. The clinics are heavily burdened because the staff are increasingly infected with the virus. The population must therefore “continue to take self-protection seriously”, demands the KGNW.

Update from March 8, 4:35 p.m .: A good week after the carnival in Cologne, the incidence is soaring. The high rate of infection also leaves its mark on the staff of the Cologne University Hospital. Several hundred employees have been infected with the corona virus.

Corona in Germany: Corona numbers are increasing again

Update from March 8, 3:30 p.m .: In Germany, there seems to be a trend reversal in terms of the number of corona cases. The nationwide incidence is increasing. And another parameter also makes you sit up and take notice. 51.9 percent of all examined PCR tests in the past week were positive – despite a decreasing number of requested PCR tests. This was announced by the laboratory association ALM and wrote of a “record high” in an official statement on March 8th. The ALM laboratories examine around 90 percent of all PCR tests carried out in Germany. “The positive rate determined rose significantly and at 51.9 percent (previous week: 45.6 percent) reached the highest value since the beginning of the pandemic,” the statement said. With a high positive rate, a high number of unreported cases can also be assumed.

At the same time, the total number of corona PCR tests in Germany has continued to fall. It was 1,757,140 last week, seven percent lower than the previous week. The utilization of the laboratories in relation to Sars-CoV-2-PCR tests is currently low at an average of 63 percent and continues to show a slightly decreasing level.

The numbers of the data “suggested that the incidence of infection was increasing again,” said Dr. Michael Müller, 1st chairman of the specialist medical professional association. “The first rays of sunshine of the approaching spring should not hide the fact that the pandemic is unfortunately still not over,” he said, according to the message.

Corona virus: import of protective masks in Germany

Update from March 8, 12:55 p.m .: In the corona pandemic, Germany bought billions of protective masks – mainly from China. A total of 3.8 billion pieces, such as FFP2 masks, with a total value of 841.3 million euros were imported into Germany last year. This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office on Tuesday. According to calculations by the Wiesbaden authorities, there were 46 masks per inhabitant. Average cost per mask when importing: 22 cents.

Almost 85 percent of these imports came from China: Germany ordered 3.2 billion masks worth 691 million euros from the Middle Kingdom. The second most important mask supplier was the United Kingdom with 173 million masks worth 56 million euros, followed by Turkey with 159 million masks for 24 million euros. At the same time, 669 million protective masks from German production with a total value of 285 million euros went abroad, mainly to Austria and Poland.

+

Corona in Germany: Vaccination rate continues to decrease

Update from March 8, 12:35 p.m .: The vaccination rate in Germany continues to decrease. Around 57,000 doses of vaccine were administered on Monday, as the RKI data showed on Tuesday. On Monday a week ago there were still around 73,000, two weeks ago 108,000 and three weeks ago 117,000.

Around 37,000 vaccine doses on Monday were booster vaccinations. The proportion of people with basic protection, for which two injections are usually required, is still at least 75.6 percent of the population (at least 62.9 million people). At least 57.5 percent (47.8 million) have now also received a booster vaccination.

The RKI has long pointed out that the figures shown are to be understood as minimum vaccination rates. The RKI assumes that the actual vaccination rate is up to five percentage points higher than indicated on the dashboard.

Update from March 8, 12:10 p.m .: The RKI has been reporting increasing corona numbers again for days (see first report) . There are several reasons that could be behind the turnaround*.

Corona: Raid because of fake vaccination cards in the Rhineland

Update from March 8, 9:50 a.m .: There was a large-scale raid in the Rhineland on Tuesday morning. Around 260 police officers searched 70 apartments and a company for fake vaccination cards. The investigations were mainly directed against a medical assistant, the Cologne public prosecutor reported on Tuesday. However, 59 potential customers are also being investigated.

In addition, 15 other procedures are being investigated in which, among other things, fake vaccination cards are said to have been presented in pharmacies or to the employer for digitization. A total of 77 suspects between the ages of 16 and 74 are being targeted by the authorities. The investigation group “Stempel” had already started a major search operation three weeks ago. At that time, a good 200 police officers were on duty. A total of 40 apartments were searched. This time investigators were in Cologne, Leverkusen, the Rhein-Erft district, the Mettmann district and in the Oberberg district.

Corona in Germany: Incidence increases again

First report from March 8th: Berlin – The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gives the 7-day incidence on Tuesday morning as 1293.6 (previous day: 1259.2). This means that the value has risen for the sixth day in a row. Within one day, 156,799 new corona infections and 324 deaths were recorded.

The number of people who had to be admitted to hospitals with a positive corona test remained at a high level. The RKI last gave the hospitalization rate as 6.06 (Monday).

Current corona numbers in Germany

2,134 Covid-19 patients currently have to be treated in the intensive care units in Germany. Of these, 927 are artificially ventilated. This emerges from the data from the Covid 19 dashboard on Tuesday morning (March 8, 6:05 a.m.).

Experts assume a high number of cases that are not recorded in the RKI data. One reason is the limited capacity of health authorities, for example, and contacts are often only tracked to a limited extent.

Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, 16,026,216 people in Germany have been shown to have been infected with Sars-CoV-2. So far, 124,450 corona deaths have been recorded. The number of people who have recovered is given by the RKI on Tuesday as 12,525,000.

Patient advocates: death rate “worrying”

Not all protective measures should now be ended, said board member Eugen Brysch to the editorial network Germany . Rather, the federal government must immediately ensure “that the infection process cannot pick up speed unchecked”.

+

The fact that the traffic light coalition is arguing about whether a nationwide catalog of measures is still necessary is a “risky political game with the suffering and life of the high-risk group”. Brysch continued to call the death rates “worrying”.

According to a three-stage plan by the federal and state governments, far-reaching corona restrictions are to be lifted by March 20th. The legal basis for the measures expires on March 19. However, so-called basic protection, such as the obligation to wear a mask indoors, on buses and trains and with tests, should be retained. A new, nationwide legal basis is being sought for this. How exactly this should look like is still unclear at first.

Corona news ticker: You can read all the information and developments up to March 7 here. (ml/dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

List of rubrics: © Stefan Zeitz/imago