NewsMore than 100,000 new infections for the first time...

More than 100,000 new infections for the first time – virologist Stöhr surprises with a statement about the record

The new corona infections reached a new high this Wednesday. The number has six digits for the first time. The incidence also reached a new record.

  • The RKI reports over 100,000 new corona infections for the first time (update from January 19, 6:06 a.m.).
  • Initial data show that there was initially no wave of terminations in response to the facility-related compulsory vaccination (see update from January 18, 1:50 p.m.).
  • Virologist Klaus Stöhr emphasizes that the number of new infections no longer plays an important role (see update from January 19, 1:20 p.m.).
  • This ticker has ended. You can read all other current Corona news here.

Update from January 19, 8:54 p.m .: The Patient Protection Foundation has criticized the Federal Ministry of Health’s plans to prioritize the PCR tests. In the tests to determine a corona infection, millions of vulnerable people in Germany and their relatives should also have priority, CEO Eugen Brysch told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

Minister Karl Lauterbach (SD) plans to prioritize medical staff for the PCR tests in view of the dwindling test capacities. “But the Federal Minister of Health only wants to give preference to employees in the tests,” Brysch criticized. “This means that the seriously ill and those in need of care and their contact persons are no longer covered by the protective shield.” In his own words, Lauterbach wants to use the prioritization to ensure that medical employees get the PCR test “when capacities are exhausted or overloaded”.

Corona in Germany: 2G rule overturned in Bavaria

Update from January 19, 2:50 p.m .: The Bavarian Administrative Court has temporarily suspended the basic restriction of access to retail stores to those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered (2G). According to its own statements, the court thus granted an urgent application from an owner of a lamp shop in Upper Bavaria on Wednesday in Munich.

Update from January 19, 2:15 p.m .: Hendrik Streeck, member of the Federal Government’s Corona Expert Council, advocates a new strategy for dealing with corona tests. “People who do not belong to any risk group should no longer undergo PCR tests on suspicion,” writes the virologist in a guest article for the weekly newspaper Die Zeit . “We should test symptom-related first. The medical relevance of virus detection in the throat of a triple vaccinated person without symptoms is low.”

Streeck is thus addressing the new developments in connection with the omicron variant of the corona virus. This is highly contagious, but causes many asymptomatic infections, especially among those who have been boosted. In the article, the virologist describes how, from his point of view, the transition from the pandemic to the endemic phase of the corona crisis could succeed. “During the transition phase, we as a society must develop an awareness that we can no longer and must not prevent every infection,” said Streeck.

It is important to continue to make the greatest possible efforts to avoid serious illnesses and deaths. But this also includes the realization: “We have to accept that we cannot always win this fight. This must also be allowed to be said – without a subsequent anger debate.” In the next few weeks, according to the 44-year-old, “we should try to be less mentally tense”.

Update from January 19, 1:50 p.m .: Many people who suffer from Corona report a loss of smell or taste. But not everyone is affected. A new study is now available.

More than 100,000 new infections for the first time – virologist Stöhr surprises with a statement about the record

Update from January 19, 1:20 p.m.: For the first time, more than 100,000 new infections per day were reported in Germany, even more than 110,000 people have been infected with the corona virus in the past 24 hours (see update from January 19, 6:06 a.m.). However, the virologist Klaus Stöhr emphasizes that the number of new infections should not be overestimated. As reported by ntv , the epidemiologist explained on the RTL program “Guten Morgen Deutschland” that it was much more important to monitor the hospitalization rate and thus the occupancy of the intensive care units. “If I’m doing normal pandemic control, I want the intensive care units, hospitals and cemeteries to be empty. This means that the hospitalization rate and the intensive care unit occupancy is the parameter for me to decide which measures I might take and which I might let go.”

“And the gap between new infections – this limb clearly points upwards – and the other limb, which points horizontally or downwards, already indicates that these parameters have decoupled from each other,” says the virologist. The expert goes even further and explains that the daily number of new infections no longer plays an important role.

Corona: Gradual decline in daily vaccination rates

Update from January 19, 1:15 p.m .: The number of daily corona vaccinations is gradually decreasing again. On Tuesday it was 589,000 doses of vaccine administered, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute on Wednesday. Compared to the previous Tuesdays, that is as much as last mid/end of November. On Tuesday last week there were 781,000, on the Tuesday before Christmas 1.2 million.

At least 75.2 percent of the population (62.5 million people) have received at least a first dose of vaccine. The federal government is aiming for 80 percent of those who have been vaccinated for the first time by the end of January, after the target of January 7, initially mentioned by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), was not achieved. According to the RKI, at least 72.9 percent of the population (60.5 million) have received full basic protection.

This usually requires two doses of vaccine. The RKI still counts people who have only received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson preparation – but this is currently being changed. In the future, people who have been vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson should only benefit from the 2G rules after a second vaccination dose – if possible with an mRNA vaccine such as that from Biontech/Pfizer or Moderna. 48.3 percent of the population (40.1 million) received an additional booster vaccination.

Corona: 9 million vaccination certificates will expire soon – who is now affected

Update from January 19, 1 p.m.: The EU has decided to shorten the period of validity of the basic immunization. Who is affected and what needs to be considered with the digital vaccination certificate.

Update from January 19, 12:25 p.m .: The vaccine from Astrazeneca developed into a slow seller after reports of serious side effects in Germany. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is now publishing new data.

Update from January 19, 11:15 a.m .: The SPD is pushing for a general obligation to vaccinate against Corona. The doctors don’t want to get involved. The hospital society even goes one step further.

Corona: when will vaccination be compulsory in Germany?

Update from January 19, 8:04 a.m .: When will vaccination be compulsory in Germany? Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach makes a clear announcement about the schedule.

“If we want to make an application that still works, then it’s an application that puts the compulsory vaccination into effect – what do I know – in April or around April, maybe in May,” said Lauterbach on the program “RTL Direkt ” at Tuesday evening. The SPD politician explained that there was still enough time to immunize unvaccinated people before a possible new corona wave in autumn.

Fake vaccination cards – 12,000 investigations are ongoing

Update from January 19, 7:19 a.m .: The illegal business with fake vaccination cards is thriving. The police have now initiated more than 12,000 investigations. The number skyrocketed last December, police authorities in the federal states reported in a nationwide survey by the German Press Agency. Bavaria is the leader with more than 4,000 procedures and 5,500 vaccination cards and certificates secured, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia with more than 3,500 procedures. “Unfortunately, we have to assume that there is a large number of unreported cases,” reported the state government in Munich.

Corona in Germany: for the first time over 100,000 new infections in one day – also a high for the incidence

Update from January 19, 6:06 a.m .: In Germany, more than 100,000 positive corona tests were recorded within 24 hours for the first time. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 112,323 new corona infections on Wednesday morning. On Friday, the number was above the 90,000 mark for the first time. In addition, 239 deaths were recorded. The number of people who died from or involved a proven infection with Sars-CoV-2 has risen to 116,081. According to the RKI, the 7-day incidence is 584.4. This is also a high.

Corona in Germany: There is no wave of layoffs in clinics – falling numbers in intensive care units

Update from January 18, 7:55 p.m .: The head of the World Health Organization WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned against taking the omicron variant of the corona virus lightly in view of the current developments. “Make no mistake, omicron leads to hospitalizations and deaths, and even the less severe cases are swamping healthcare facilities,” Tedros said Tuesday.

Above all, the WHO chief warns against wrong conclusions from the findings that the omicron variant leads to easier courses on average than the delta variant. “Omicron may be less severe on average, but the narrative that it is a harmless disease is misleading (…) and costs more lives,” said the 56-year-old.

At an appointment on Monday, Federal Minister of Health Lauterbach also warned against underestimating the omicron variant due to the easier courses. In the course of the coming weeks, the SPD politician therefore expects “an additional burden on the intensive care beds, but also on the general ward.”

Corona in Germany: Omicron variant ensures record values for PCR tests

Update from January 18, 4:40 p.m .: In Germany, the highly contagious omicron variant also places an additional burden on the laboratories that are responsible for evaluating PCR tests. The laboratory association ALM has now reported a maximum number of PCR tests within a week. In the past week, 1.95 million PCR tests were carried out in Germany. Record since the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020. About every fourth test delivered a positive result (24.9 percent).

The utilization of the laboratories rose again significantly from 64 percent in the previous week to 86 percent. ALM Chairman Michael Müller was quite concerned about the current developments. “The situation is actually serious, the laboratories are at the capacity limits and beyond.” The laboratories were therefore able to increase their capacities significantly, this week the reported capacity for PCR tests in German laboratories is around 2.52 million.

Nevertheless, one cannot test oneself out of the pandemic, warned Müller. In order to avoid overloading the laboratories and the specialists, he again called for the national test strategy to be applied quickly and consistently, which also provides for prioritization of PCR tests with limited capacity. Such a prioritization of PCR tests for people with symptoms or employees in care facilities was also discussed at yesterday’s conference of health ministers.

Concern about a wave of layoffs due to facility-related vaccination requirements – first data available

Update from January 18, 1:50 p.m .: According to the German Hospital Society (DKG), the facility-related vaccination requirement that will apply from mid-March has so far not led to any increase in the number of terminations in clinics. “Currently, we have not received any reports from the hospitals about possible layoffs due to the mandatory vaccination that will apply from March 15,” said CEO Gerald Gass of the Rheinische Post .

The vaccination rate in hospitals nationwide is very high at more than 90 percent. “But there are regional differences, and we cannot rule out the possibility of problems occurring at individual locations,” says Gass. The hospital operators are therefore doing everything they can to do educational and information work in order to convince as many employees as possible to be vaccinated.

Despite the increasing number of infections, the situation in the corona intensive care units has been stable so far. “We still have declining numbers in the intensive care units. I’m also cautiously confident about the next few days and weeks,” said Gaß on Bild Live . The difficult courses would obviously have decreased with Omikron.

Ein Pfleger zieht sich beim Verlassen der Intensivstation für Corona-Patienten am Sana Klinikum Offenbach seinen Schutzkittel aus.

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The number of corona intensive care patients continues to fall. (icon picture)

Corona in Germany: crazy vaccination pass incident in the pharmacy

Update from January 18, 11:50 a.m .: More and more babies have to be treated in a clinic in the omicron wave in Great Britain with a corona infection. An evaluation now shows an increase in past corona waves.

Update from January 18, 9.50 a.m .: A curious incident has now occurred in a pharmacy in Schwerte. A 30-year-old went to a pharmacy on Monday to have her vaccination card digitized. However, as the police in Unna announced on Tuesday, it turned out that the passport was a fake. When the pharmacist then wanted to confront the woman, she fled. However, the 30-year-old was clumsy in her failed attempt at fraud. She had forgotten her identity card at the pharmacy. The police paid the young woman a visit shortly thereafter, and investigations were initiated against her.

RKI reports record incidence again – police discover “weapon ready to fire” at corona demonstration

Original notification from January 18, 2022: Berlin – The corona numbers are rising sharply again, the Robert Koch Institute is again reporting a new high in the corona pandemic. The institute had already reported record incidences in the past few days. Now the value even jumps over the mark of 550 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week.

Corona numbers are climbing higher and higher: RKI reports record incidence again – more than 70,000 new cases

With an incidence of 553.2, the RKI recorded another record value. The day before, the incidence had set a record at 528.2. A week ago the value was 387.9 (previous month: 306.4). And the number of new infections is also increasing sharply compared to the previous week. The health authorities in Germany reported 74,405 new infections to the RKI in the past 24 hours. A week ago the value was 45,690 infections.

According to the new information, 193 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. A week ago there were 322 deaths.

Thousands of participants in demonstrations against corona measures

Numerous measures are intended to curb the spread of the corona pandemic in Germany. Thousands of people are not enthusiastic about the policy, however, they took to the streets on Monday evening. According to police reports, the protests, which were often described as “walks”, were mostly peaceful. In isolated cases, the police intervened to prevent clashes with counter-demonstrators. The police also broke up gatherings that violated demonstration and corona requirements. There were arrests and injuries.

In Rostock, around 3,000 opponents of the measures faced around 1,000 police officers. When officers tried to stop a demonstrator elevator, some threw bottles and firecrackers at the officers. The officers used pepper spray and arrested eleven people. During searches, they found home-made pyrotechnics and a “shooting pen” along with ammunition. “The presence of a ready-to-fire weapon and ammunition is an extremely dangerous and worrying development,” said Rostock Police Inspectorate Achim Segebarth.

More than 21,000 demonstrators in Thuringia – infection protection rules often disregarded

In Thuringia alone, according to police, more than 21,000 demonstrators took part in protests that were often unregistered. The “predominant” part of the demonstrators apparently disregarded the infection protection rules. The police therefore filed dozens of reports of administrative offenses and criminal offenses. In Gera, demonstrators resisted arrest by the police. According to the authorities, three officers and three “protesters” were slightly injured.

In Braunschweig and Cottbus, demonstrators tried to break through police lines. At a demonstration called by the Verdi union in Braunschweig, a demonstrator sprayed pepper spray. As a result, several people were injured – including a police officer and the “Sprayer” himself. In Saxony, where particularly violent clashes had repeatedly occurred in recent weeks, the numerous registered and unregistered demonstrations this Monday were apparently comparatively peaceful.

Coronavirus - Protest gegen Corona-Politik in Greiz

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Participants in a demonstration against the Corona measures known as a “walk” walk through the city center at the weekend. (archive image)

In Bavaria, too, the demonstrations were mostly peaceful this time. According to the police, an estimated 5,500 participants gathered in Nuremberg alone at a registered demonstration under the motto “Restoration of fundamental rights”. Numerous demonstrators also took to the streets in Berlin, Cologne and Munich. According to the police, opponents of the Corona measures clashed with a counter-demonstrator in Kassel. The officials determined a “presumed mutual bodily harm”. In Landau, the police finally filed a criminal complaint “on suspicion of disparaging the state and its symbols”. One demonstrator had a “German flag with a banana picture” with him.

The omicron variant of the corona virus is considered to be significantly more contagious. But according to a study, FFP2 masks protect better against the new mutation than against Delta, for example. *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Rubriclistenbild: © teutopress GmbH / Imago

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