When the coronavirus sneaks into communities

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When the corona virus strikes, it often affects whole groups of people.

This connects cases that have occupied Germany in the past few days and weeks. It is dangerous if the virus penetrates institutions, in old people’s homes like in Würzburg and Wolfsburg, in refugee homes like in Bremen.

Work contract workers from the meat industry in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia who live in dormitories were also affected.

There is a focus of infection with up to now 175 people in Göttingen, which according to the city goes back to family celebrations for the Muslim Sugar Festival. There are corona outbreaks in free church communities in Frankfurt / Main and Bremerhaven. “This is also a social virus,” said medical sociologist Matthias Richter from the University of Halle-Wittenberg of the German Press Agency.

The duration and number of contacts are the decisive factors, according to the virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit from the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg. “Narrow apartments or dormitories with many people – these are ideal conditions for spreading the virus.” Overall, the infections had decreased. “The individual super spreader events stand out more.” This refers to cases in which an infected person unknowingly infects many others.

According to the experts, poverty affects a group’s risk of being infected. There are cultural factors, and possible distrust of the authorities also plays a role. Because the social groups concerned are so different, apart from the big messages, more targeted communication is needed, says the sociologist Richter. «You can’t wear the one message” So, now wear all your mask! ” reach everyone. »

Society needs to be aware of how diverse it is and target individual groups, especially if the infections affect everyone from there, he says. The core of Göttingen is about some Muslim families from the former Yugoslavia. But all 600 residents of a high-rise complex had to be tested. Because many children were infected, schools and some day care centers in the city were closed again. Team sport in clubs is at rest.

The city of Bremerhaven also closed a primary school for at least one week due to around 100 infections among members of a free church. Further easing was postponed. The church is primarily made up of large Russian-German families. According to reports from the city, they live a secluded life – also shaped by the experience that they were persecuted as Christians and a national minority in the Soviet Union. An official doctor and representatives of the regulatory office visited the families to ask them to be tested and to keep the quarantine.

The outbreaks in individual social groups run the risk of being branded publicly. Nobody should be discriminated against, said the Mayor of Bremerhaven Melf Grantz (SPD). But all citizens, regardless of religion or origin, should clearly follow the rules. To contain the infections, “there is no other way than to clearly name the affected group,” said city spokesman Volker Heigenmooser of the dpa.

When dealing with migrant groups in particular, the health authorities need knowledge about cultural peculiarities, says Schmidt-Chanasit. «There will be no overnight solution. You have to win people in these communities, who then influence others. » Richter also relies on multipliers: “It is important that recognized respects clarify the rules of conduct, for example a father as head of the family.”

The medical sociologist rates the most recent foci of infection on a scale of how voluntarily or forced the groups took the risk. At one end, he sees the outbreak in a restaurant in East Friesland in mid-May: “Visiting the restaurant more or less voluntarily exposed the guests to an increased risk.” At the other end, there were cases in the meat industry: “The agency workers had no choice.” Richter sees employers here as obliged to provide healthier accommodation.

For him, the sugar festival infections at the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan stand in the middle – a mixture of religious convention and family festival. This combination also applies to non-Muslim society: “Christmas should be very different from Easter, because then you meet with the family, the grandparents are coming,” presumed Richter.

The virologist Schmidt-Chanasit sees the situation under control despite these corona hotspots. “These events will not lead to a second wave.” They are too limited for this, the infection chains could be traced. «There will always be groups that you cannot reach. It is important that the majority abides by the rules. » For him, the question is how the large anti-racism demonstrations will affect thousands of participants. There is also a danger if major events take place again or discotheques and bars return to normal operation.

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