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reHealth authorities in Germany reported 23,449 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in 24 hours. With 432 new deaths in one day, the third highest level since the start of the pandemic was reported. The previous high of 487 deaths was reached on Wednesday.
The trend in the number of daily deaths had recently increased, which was also expected after the sharp increase in new infections. The total number of people who died with or with a proven Sars-CoV-2 infection rose to 18,034 on Friday. The RKI has counted 1,130,238 infections detected with Sars-CoV-2 in Germany since the beginning of the pandemic (until December 4, 00:00). Around 820,600 people are estimated to have recovered.
According to RKI’s management report on Thursday, the so-called seven-day R-value was 0.94 (previous day: 0.89). This means that 100 infected people infect 94 other people. The value represents the appearance of the infection 8 to 16 days ago. If the value is less than 1 for a long time, the infection rate decreases.
Only 5.8 percent of nurseries are fully or partially closed
The number of new corona infections recently exceeded a critical threshold for nursery children in Germany. According to Family Minister Franziska Giffey (SPD), this is based on current figures from the Corona-Kita study, which is jointly funded by the Ministry of Family and Health.
“The zero to five group is still the least likely to be infected with the coronavirus. The number of new infections here is at a national average of 59 per 100,000 residents in seven days, “Giffey told the newspapers of the Funke media group ahead of a Corona-Kita-Rat meeting on Friday.
This means that the seven-day incidence for nursery children is above the value of 50 that Chancellor Angela Merkel set as a target before crown restrictions in Germany can be relaxed again.
“The current incidence among children ages six to 10 is 105,” Giffey said. The trend is decreasing among nursery school children and also in this group. “If there are corona outbreaks in daycare, it is mostly due to the adults who are there, including parents, assistants and educators.”
Of the more than 56,000 kindergartens in Germany, 13,000 participate in kindergarten registration, according to Giffey, 7,000 regularly report crown numbers, which the German Youth Institute and the Robert Koch Institute continuously evaluate.
“According to the latest figures, only 5.8 percent of the nurseries were closed totally or partially due to infections, that is, in the other more than 90 percent the operation was underway,” said Giffey. “And that shows that it was okay that we wanted to keep the nurseries open. Nurseries are not causing infections. “
Giffey called for child care professionals to be one of the first groups to have the opportunity to get vaccinated. In this field of work, it is the staff who can least protect themselves. “They usually don’t wear a mask either, because facial expressions are very important when it comes to young children.” The minister also believes that teachers should be among the first to be vaccinated.
New Guide for Nursing Homes
Meanwhile, the federal government’s commissioner of care has warned against overly strict crown requirements in nursing homes and retirement homes. “There are very good concepts. In some cases, however, there are also rules that are too strict according to current knowledge, ”Andreas Westerfellhaus told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “Even if there is a limited outbreak, a facility should not reflexively close back to visitors.”
After several severe crown outbreaks, nursing homes in Germany were severely sealed off during the first closure in spring. In hindsight, this also drew criticism because many residents suffered from isolation. But even now, the infection rate in the elderly and nursing homes, as well as the high mortality rates among the elderly, are again a cause for great concern. “The situation remains very tense,” RKI President Lothar Wieler said in Berlin on Thursday.
Together with the RKI, the nursing officer has developed a guide for visits to nursing homes and for the elderly, which will be sent to the facilities. According to the report, this also includes the recommendation to announce home address visits on time and clarify whether a quick test is helpful.
