In the German municipality of Gangelt, far fewer people died of corona than expected. A study shows that 0.37 percent of patients have died from the disease. The expected death rate for Germany was 1.98 percent.
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The German virologist Hendrik Streeck said this on Thursday at a press conference in Düsseldorf, reports the Aachener Zeitung. At the press conference, the first results of an investigation conducted in the severely affected Kreis Heinsberg in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia were announced.
15 percent immune
A sample of a representative number of residents of the municipality of Gangelt shows that 15 percent of the residents tested are infected and 15 percent have developed some form of immunity. A 15 percent immunity rate would mean that 1,875 of Gangelt’s 12,500 residents are immune to the virus.
The sample was representative, but that does not mean that at the moment (or in the coming weeks) 15 percent of the rest of the German population is also immune to corona, because Gangelt is ‘a very badly affected area’, according to Streeck.
First contamination
The study was conducted in the municipality of Gangelt because the virus first appeared in Germany, with a resident of the core Langbroich. North Rhine-Westphalia, the state of Gangelt, is still the worst affected region in Germany.
On his way out
District administrator Stephan Pusch said the virus in the region is now clearly on its way out. According to him, this is due to all measures that have limited freedom of movement.
Smoothing
It now takes three weeks in Heinsberg for the number of corona patients to double. In the surrounding regions, this period is still around two weeks. At the beginning of the coronacrsis, the number of infections could double in a few days.
In 10 of the 16 German federal states, the number of new infections decreases daily according to figures from the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Also read: Germany is thinking of relaxing measures after Easter
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