Home » Health » How Germany is going into the second Corona autumn | Germany | DW

How Germany is going into the second Corona autumn | Germany | DW

The “Berghain”, Berlin’s most famous dance temple, is open again. Reportedly, there was the familiar mix of music and ecstasy inside. SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach, known for his otherwise always warning words about the pandemic, welcomed the move. The opening of the club for genesis and vaccinated people is “great”. There will probably also be infections with COVID-19. “But those who are vaccinated will not get so seriously ill. So you can risk it.”

So is Germany already over the top – over the pandemic? Jens Spahn, still minister of health in the outgoing federal government, was also optimistic at a press conference: The pandemic situation is such that “we can currently deal with it well”.

Most Germans seem to think so too. A survey by the opinion research institute “Infratest Dimap” showed: At 42 percent, significantly fewer German citizens are currently worried about another significant increase in the number of infections than in the summer. At that time the value was 62 percent.

New wave stopped

A look at the numbers shows that Germany was indeed able to slow down the fourth wave of infections that became apparent in the summer. The seven-day incidence of new infections has been on a plateau at 60 plus x per 100,000 inhabitants for some time. The number of cases is stagnating. However, they are higher than in the same period in 2020.

But incidence is no longer the sole yardstick. The federal and state governments agreed in the summer to also use the so-called hospitalization rate to assess the infection rate. This figure is currently around 1.6 hospital admissions per 100,000 inhabitants within a week – and therefore in the green area. The situation in the intensive care units is also not very alarming: the proportion of COVID patients in the intensive care units is almost everywhere in the single-digit percentage range.

But a look behind the percentage figures also shows that the virus is still active and shapes individual fates. On the Corona map of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the national health authority, more than four dozen districts or cities are marked in medium or dark red, which corresponds to incidences of over 100 or even 200. In the hospitals in the most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, around 280 COVID patients are currently being treated (as of October 8). More than half of them are artificially ventilated. It is mainly unvaccinated people who are currently seriously ill.

Politicians remain cautious

“It is very difficult to say where we are in this pandemic, which we can assume will last two to four years worldwide,” said Berit Lange from the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in an interview with DW. “What we do know is that we in Germany do not yet have enough immunity among the population to completely avoid even more severe outbreaks that burden the hospitals.”

The quota of those who have been completely vaccinated is currently up according to official figures 65 percent – in the case of those over-60, who are particularly at risk, even almost 85 percent. However, the numbers are not entirely certain. The RKI itself states that the vaccination rate could also be five percentage points higher. Apparently, many vaccinations were not reported by company doctors, among others. A review is in progress, as it was said.

Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU)

Now the cold season begins. Life is increasingly taking place indoors again. This increases the potential risk of infection. Politics knows this big “but”. In addition to the message that the situation was more or less under control, Minister Spahn immediately sent a warning afterwards: The vaccination quota will not be enough for a safe autumn-winter. He warned against cockiness. “We mustn’t go too fast, but step-by-step. So that we don’t have to go back.”

A “Freedom Day” like the one in Great Britain, on which all measures will end, is currently not in sight for Germany. Epidemiologist Lange, however, doesn’t think much of it in general: “The question of whether one calls out something like this is a political one. The question of whether one can then hold out is an epidemiological question.” When the rate of infection increases again, with a correspondingly heavy burden on the health system, politicians have no choice but to reintroduce protective measures.

In focus: school children and those not vaccinated

Corona policy is currently focused on two groups. Those who experience the pandemic up close almost every day in Germany are primarily schoolchildren. Vaccination is not yet recommended for the under-12 age group. This affects around nine million children in Germany. Most infections occur in this age group. So far, however, according to doctors, there have been only a few serious cases. However, the virologist Jana Schroeder warned in an interview with DW that children also have to go to hospital because of Corona.

For protection, hygiene regulations, test and quarantine orders, which differ from state to state and school to school, continue to apply. A common point of contention is currently the question of the mask requirement in schools. The Robert Koch Institute says “yes”, unlike many paediatricians. Some federal states have already abolished the mask requirement, restricted it or are planning to do so. There are no central requirements, schools are part of the competence area of ​​the federal states.

Pascal Haag, a student in North Rhine-Westphalia, is also involved in the topic. He finds a mask requirement – from grade 5 – generally correct. Because the risk of being infected is lower, he tells DW. Most parents would also see it that way, reports Pascal, who is also a member of the school conference, in which teachers, students and parents consult together.

But outside of school, says the 16-year-old, the situation is just “bizarre”. “Distance and mask are out of the question in restaurants or bars, but compulsory at school. I think there should simply be uniform rules for indoor spaces.”

Pressure on those who have been vaccinated is increasing

The other group in focus of the policy are the non-vaccinated. In the over-60s, that’s three million. Although there is no compulsory vaccination, the pressure to get vaccinated is increasing. In many restaurants, to the hairdresser or to music events, only those who have either been tested, recovered or vaccinated (3G) are allowed. Innkeepers can also decide to only allow those who have recovered and who have been vaccinated (2G).

Berlin, Mitte |  Pop-up test center

Pop-up test station in Berlin: The first ones are already being dismantled because demand is likely to fall

Now there is no longer any possibility – this is also supposed to increase the pressure – to be tested quickly and free of charge before visiting the restaurant. In Berlin, the move is already noticeable in the decreasing number of pop-up test stations. A test should now cost around 25 euros.

The next tightening concerns the quarantine rules. So far, wages have continued to be paid when quarantine has been ordered. From November this will no longer be available for those who have not been vaccinated.

“House election campaign for vaccination”

Focusing on these two groups at the moment – especially on the unvaccinated adults who are more at risk for severe disease – makes “epidemiologically a lot of sense,” says Lange, who is also a doctor. “You have to see whether that succeeds.” What is missing, however, is more precise knowledge about “which population groups have not yet been vaccinated in regional respects but also other characteristics and which targeted measures could be used to address them. One would now have to campaign nationwide, so to speak, for vaccination campaigns and address people very specifically, that it is easy for them to accept vaccination offers. “

Pascal also has suggestions for improvement – for the school situation. At his school there was still a lack of air filters for rooms that cannot be ventilated. The teachers are also not yet adequately trained for digital solutions such as distance teaching. “Digitization shouldn’t just be about devices!” And then another appeal to the politicians is important to Pascal: “Don’t do it like last year! Massively restrict the freedom of the students in their free time and still send them to school. Then you feel as if you only have to for them School work, otherwise you are unimportant as a person. “

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