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HEINSBERG / BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The novel corona virus is spreading rapidly in Germany. On Thursday, 14 further infections with the pathogen Sars-CoV-2 became known in North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as four new cases in Baden-Württemberg and one each in Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria. The number of current infections in Germany rose to 30. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) considers the pathogen Sars-CoV-2 to be more deadly than the flu. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned it had “pandemic potential” and could “get out of control” without the right measures. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has now registered cases in at least 15 European countries.
The district of Heinsberg and the NRW Ministry of Health announced that 14 other people were infected with the pathogen Sars-CoV-2. This brought the total number in the state to 20. One of them
– a Bundeswehr soldier whose infection became known on Wednesday –
is treated in Rhineland-Palatinate. All 14 positively tested were released into domestic quarantine because inpatient treatment was not necessary, it said. The victims mainly lived in the community of Gangelt in the Heinsberg district.
According to the authorities, all those infected had contact with a Gangelt couple who are being treated at the University Hospital in Düsseldorf. In the region, an estimated 1,000 people are under quarantine as a precaution. According to a spokesman for the Heinsberg district, there could have been around 400 contact persons at a carnival session – but their partners and children are also quarantined at home. The “patient zero” who caused the outbreak in NRW is still unknown, according to the authorities.
Four other infections became known in Baden-Württemberg, as the Ministry of Social Affairs in Stuttgart announced. This increased the number of confirmed cases in the state to eight. Among the new cases are two women and one man. They had attended a business meeting in Munich and, according to the Robert Koch Institute, are among 13 contacts of an Italian participant who had been tested positive in Italy. The three patients are in a clinic. Another confirmed infection was reported from the district of Böblingen, it is directly related to a previously known case from the district of Göppingen.
Rhineland-Palatinate reported a case in Kaiserslautern on Thursday – the infected person had been in Iran until recently and was in contact with a “symptomatically conspicuous person” there. In Bavaria, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health announced the infection of a man from Middle Franconia who had had contact with an infected Italian.
In addition to the 30 current cases, 16 more Sars CoV-2 infections were reported in Germany more than two weeks ago. These people are now all considered virus free.
RKI President Lothar Wieler said the likelihood of dying from flu was 0.1 to 0.2 percent. According to the figures known so far, the rate for Sars-CoV-2 is almost ten times as high – at one to two percent. 80 percent of those infected had only mild symptoms, but 15 percent were seriously ill with the lung disease Covid-19.
Due to the spread of the virus in large parts of the world, a crisis team of the federal government decided not only to record the contact details of passengers from the country of origin China, but also of passengers on flights from South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy. So you should be able to reach them quickly if a passenger was infected.
Such “disembarkation cards” should also be filled out on ships and in cross-border train and bus traffic, said Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) in Berlin. The bus industry agreed to participate. “We are in close contact with the Federal Ministry of Transport and are advancing the introduction of the exit card,” said the Federal Association of German Bus and Coach Operators. Deutsche Bahn wants to collect data if the authorities suspect a coronavirus on a train. Then the area is blocked and cleaned and disinfected after the trip.
Seehofer announced that asylum seekers would also be tested for the new corona virus as part of the standard health check-up. Many would come to Germany via “preloaded” countries such as Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan.
This Friday, the crisis team wants to deal with the handling of major events. The ITB in Berlin, the world’s largest tourism trade fair (March 4 to 8) is under scrutiny. In sport, there is a debate about a possible cancellation of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in summer. The Federal Government does not yet consider general restrictions on sporting events such as games in the soccer Bundesliga to be necessary.
Authorities in many countries are trying to contain the virus with drastic measures. The consequences of spreading Sars-CoV-2 to large sections of the population are difficult to assess. In addition, unlike the flu, there is no vaccine or specially tailored medication.
Italy has the largest outbreak in Europe with around 650 infected people and 17 dead. Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio warned against exaggerating the dangers. Tourism is already suffering significantly from the fear of infection.
According to CDC warnings, President Donald Trump said the risk to Americans is “very low”. Saudi Arabia closed its borders for foreign pilgrimages to the cities of Mecca and Medina for fear of spreading.
In South Korea, the armed forces of the Asian country and the United States postpone their spring maneuver indefinitely. The country’s health authorities reported 505 new cases on Thursday. Japan wants to close all schools in the fight against the new virus. The measure will come into effect on Monday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
In China, the country of origin of the virus, the number of infections detected rose to around 78,500, the number of deaths in the official statistics for mainland China was 2,744. Experts estimate that the number of unreported cases is very high.
Most infected people have only mild cold symptoms such as chills and sore throat or no symptoms at all. However, some infected people become seriously ill and develop breathing problems or pneumonia, for example. The virus spreads through droplet infection, such as when speaking and coughing. Regularly thorough hand washing is considered the best protection.
German industry sees the new corona virus as a “stress test” for the economy. BDI general manager Joachim Lang said: “The economy is threatened by noticeable negative effects.”
At German supermarkets, the virus has meanwhile led to an increased demand for durable food and hygiene products, as Aldi-Süd and Lidl said on request from dpa.
The British Wellcome Foundation called on international financial institutions to provide billions to fight the epidemic. This represents an “unprecedented, global challenge,” said Wellcome director Jeremy Farrar in a statement. The situation could take on an extent comparable to the financial and economic crisis of 2008.
Farrar calls for the World Bank to provide $ 10 billion immediately to help contain the virus in low and middle income countries. This should be accompanied by “considerable investments in diagnostics, therapy and vaccines” ./ gth / DP / fba
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