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Obtaining valid information on the current corona infection process is not easy. The numbers are increasing too fast and it is becoming too difficult for the district health authorities to narrow down and determine the relevant sources of infection.
Covid-19 patient data is recorded with appropriate Robert Koch Institute software, differentiated according to specific infection settings. These are among others:
- Housing (private homes, nursing homes / elderly homes, refugee / asylum seeker home, dormitories)
- Medical treatment center (hospital, medical practice, rehabilitation center)
- Workplace
- Training center (school, university)
- Care Center (Senior Day Care Center, Kindergarten, After School Care Center)
- Free time (club, picnic, camping, animal park, zoo)
- Place to eat (restaurant, canteen, snack)
- Overnight (hotel, pension, cruise)
- Means of transport (bus, plane, ferry, train)
In total, more than 30 different infection environments for outbreaks can be entered into the software when entering data. Always with the difficulty that the assignment to an environment in which outbreaks occur is not always clear.
Sometimes it is not possible to tell if the SARS-CoV-2 virus was transmitted to colleagues who were friends on the way to work (carpool) or at work (lunch break).
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Outbreaks of infection over time
At the beginning of the pandemic in Germany, from the end of March to the end of April (week 13-18), nursing homes and nursing homes, as well as hospitals and refugee homes, were the focus of many cases of COVID- 19. At the time, the death rate among those over 70 was particularly high.
From June to early August (week 23-32), the workplace was often considered the likely environment for infection. These included in particular outbreaks in meat processing companies such as in Gütersloh. Since mid-August (KW33), the number of outbreaks in private homes has accounted for the highest proportion of outbreak situations, along with the workplace and leisure activities. In autumn, the number of cases in nursing homes and for the elderly will increase again.
Where do corona infections accumulate?
Publications from the Robert Koch Institute show that outbreaks occur frequently in private homes, but the average number of cases per outbreak is relatively low. In nursing homes and nursing homes, corona outbreaks have a much higher number of cases per outbreak.
Naturally, there are significantly fewer transmissions in outdoor situations. There are no outbreaks in animal parks and zoos, while camping and only a few at picnics.
Breaks in working life are often associated with difficult working conditions, such as in slaughterhouses or with harvest workers. Accommodation in cramped apartments also plays a role here. The same applies to outbreaks in the homes of refugees and asylum seekers.
Infections are relatively rare in restaurants, hotels, and public transportation. But this is certainly also due to the locally required AHA rules.
Mentioned over and over again: young adults
But what about teens and young adults ages 15 to 34? Covid 19 disease in this age group generally does not have a severe course. The RKI writes: “Younger people who have a significantly lower risk of a severe course of the disease and therefore possibly (with lower perception of risk) do not take the recommendations for the prevention of infections (AHA rules ) seriously enough, they can contract the virus through close contacts in private. Spread the environment. ”
It’s clear that if you have few or no symptoms, you may not think of Corona at first if your throat is scratched. Chains of infection can start unnoticed, which later leads to larger outbreaks. But in fact, for example, the global climate strike on September 25, in which many participants were in this age group, did not cause a major outbreak of corona infections.
Are celebrations responsible for the increased incidence?
And the parties? In this context, the RKI speaks of “celebrating with family and friends.” Politicians like to mention him over and over again as a major driver for the crown. Also recently in the Berchtesgaden district, where Prime Minister Markus Söder mentioned a private birthday party as the cause of the sharp increase in incidence: “The starting point was again a corresponding party.”
Both the district administrator Bernhard Kern and the head of the local health department, Wolfgang Krämer, distanced themselves from Söder’s quick analysis and preferred to speak of a “diffuse event throughout the district”. An expression that RKI also likes to use in its daily management report: “In addition, there is an increasingly diffuse spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the population of many districts, without the chains of infection being clearly traceable “.
However, this should easily be the case at a private party, because the local health department asks for the details of the sources of infection, according to the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL). “Health authorities are generally required to carefully determine the sources of infection in positive cases,” said Aleksander Szumilas, LGL press spokesman. If multiple people contract Covid-19 around the same time, the source would be clear.
