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On Friday, the Robert Koch Institute again reported 7,334 new infections in a day like never before since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, continuing the trend from the previous day, when there was also a record day with 6,638 recently reported infected people. The total number of confirmed cases rises to 348,557. The number of deaths rises accordingly to 9,734.
Never before have the figures in Germany been officially so high as now; However, the values are only comparable up to a point, because many more tests are now being done and thus more infections are being discovered.
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There is also a clear increase in Covid 19 patients treated in intensive care. According to the RKI situation report, 655 corona-infected people were cared for in intensive care on Thursday, 329 of whom were ventilated. One week earlier (October 8) the value was 487 (239 ventilated), the previous week (October 1) it was 362 (193 ventilated). Around 8,700 intensive care beds are still available in Germany.
Report: Spahn’s special rights to be expanded
According to a media report, the grand coalition wants to extend the special rights of the Federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, in the fight against the crown beyond March 31, 2021. A corresponding template is currently being coordinated between the ministries, reported the Rheinische Mail on Friday.
The bill grants broad powers to the CDU politician. Spahn is authorized to issue ordinances on his own initiative, insofar as it is “necessary to protect the population from being threatened by serious communicable diseases”. The newspaper reported that Spahn could control international and domestic travel at his own discretion. It could issue regulations for airports and seaports if the infection situation requires it.
Four federal states lift accommodation ban
Saxony lifts accommodation ban for people from risk areas of Corona. This was announced by Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) on Thursday after a conversation with district administrators and mayors of the Free State. State Health Minister Petra Köpping (SPD) added that the restriction for German national tourists from risk areas will be lifted on Saturday. “So we will not have such a ban during the fall break.”
The administrative court of Baden-Württemberg has also granted an urgent request against a ban on accommodation in the state. The accommodation ban is temporarily suspended in Baden-Württemberg with immediate effect, as the court announced Thursday in Mannheim. No appeals can be made.
In Lower Saxony, the operator of an amusement park had demanded a ban on accommodation. The Higher Administrative Court of Lüneburg also decided there to repeal the regulation. The Lower Saxony state government did not initially approve accommodation bans in other federal states, but did so after a few days. Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) justified this by the fact that otherwise the country would have had a special appeal for tourists who were excluded from holidays in other countries.
Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) also announced Thursday that the accommodation ban was lifted. “The accommodation ban is out of date, as from today’s point of view it no longer helps to positively influence the infection process,” he said. Staying overnight in a hotel and complying with hygiene regulations is significantly less risky than in other areas, says Hans. However, the Saarland state government called for unnecessary travel to be avoided.
The Higher Administrative Court of Schleswig-Holstein, on the other hand, rejected an urgent request against the accommodation ban. A family from the Recklinghausen district (North Rhine-Westphalia), who wanted to take a holiday in Sylt from Friday, had submitted an application, as the court announced on Thursday evening. If the implementation of the accommodation ban were now suspended, people from areas of domestic risk could come to Schleswig-Holstein for tourist purposes without being controlled, the judges said in the justification. In light of figures released Thursday on the rise in new infections, this could put the public health system at risk, “especially since the spread of the coronavirus is often undetected and difficult to control.”
Meanwhile, the Lower Saxony Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) is relieved by the Lüneburg verdict. “We hope the hotel industry can bring in the rest of the vacation days,” CEO Rainer Balke said Thursday. However, he criticized the government’s decision to impose the accommodation ban because that would have created uncertainty among travelers. “The damage is definitely done,” Balke said. “We don’t know if that can still be compensated for.”
Doctors and nurses criticize Spahn’s call to vaccinate against influenza
Due to the corona pandemic, more people than usual in Germany want to get a flu shot. Because Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) called for flu shots and promised that there would be enough doses of vaccines available, there is now criticism from doctors and nurses. The president of the Bavarian State Medical Association, Gerald Quitterer (BLÄK), said on Thursday that many practices in Bavaria had not even received all the pre-ordered vaccines. New orders are possible, but not foreseeable in terms of time. “If the delivery will be made on time in the future it is a mortgage on the future,” Quitterer said.
The board of directors of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, accused the minister of wreaking havoc with his call for vaccines. Jens Spahn drummers for weeks to get vaccinated. But now vaccination doses are lacking across the country, and suddenly the department head says that initially only risk groups should be protected, “said Brysch.” That creates a maximum of uncertainty.
On Wednesday, Spahn dismissed fears of a shortage of supplies for the flu vaccine and called on particularly vulnerable groups to get vaccinated. Currently, there could be bottlenecks in the delivery locally and in terms of time, but that does not mean that there are bottlenecks in the supply of this influenza vaccine. According to its own information, the Federal Ministry of Health has ordered 26 million cans for this season, more than ever, according to Spahn.
Despite Corona, Germans donate more to large aid organizations
Despite the crisis in the Crown, the Germans donate more than the previous year. According to a survey by the German Central Institute for Social Affairs (DZI), development organizations received 11.6 percent more donations in the first half of this year than in 2019. According to the DZI report on Thursday, 21 of the 30 largest organizations saw an increase in donations and nine a decrease. In contrast, willingness to donate has tended to decline in smaller aid organizations. Only 29 percent more donations have received more donations from aid organizations with annual revenues of up to one million euros, 38 percent have reduced them and 33 percent have remained more or less the same.
DZI Managing Director Burkhard Wilke suspects that one reason for the decline in donations from smaller associations and foundations could be that they are more reliant than larger ones on face-to-face events and direct contact with their donors. “At the same time, it is an impressive sign of willingness to help that most of the large aid organizations have been able to see significant increases in donations in the first half of the year, which are used primarily to fund relief efforts abroad.” Wilke said.
The increase in crown numbers in Berlin continues
The number of infections continues to increase in the German capital. The health administration reported 551 more positive cases for Thursday. The day before was 501. This means that more than 20,000 people in Berlin have been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic.
The so-called seven-day incidence value increased to 78.3 on Thursday. Berlin is thus well above the critical value of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in a week. A particularly high number of people are currently infected in the Neukölln and Mitte districts. There the incidence value was 170 and 127.3, respectively.
Telephone sick leave again possible nationwide as of Monday
The telephone sickness leave due to cold symptoms will be possible again throughout the country starting next Monday due to the situation of the crown. This was decided by the Federal Joint Committee on Health Care. The regulation should initially apply until the end of the year. The corresponding sick leave is available for seven days. A one-time sick leave extension could be issued over the phone for another seven calendar days, he said in a message. The Federal Joint Committee is composed of representatives of statutory physicians, clinics, and health insurance companies. It is the highest decision-making body for the joint self-administration of the German healthcare system.
Nationally, telephone sick leave was already possible in the initial phase of the pandemic. It was later decided to allow this only at the regional level and for a limited time with exemption, depending on the occurrence of the infection. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians recently campaigned to expand regulation again in light of the rising number of corona infections in the fall and winter. The instrument had already considerably eased practice in March and April.
Federal Environment Agency: Ventilate classrooms every 20 minutes
The Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) recommends regular ventilation in schools to protect against corona. Classrooms should be regularly ventilated every 20 minutes for about five minutes with the windows wide open, UBA President Dirk Messner said Thursday in Dessau-Roßlau. For the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK), the authority has developed a corresponding brochure on correct ventilation in schools, which will now be distributed in the federal states to all schools in Germany.
Messner said ventilation was “the easiest and most effective way to remove viruses from the air in classrooms.” However, the ventilation does not offer one hundred percent protection. In addition to ventilating the room for 20 minutes, it should also be ventilated during each class break. All windows should be open wide for ventilation. It was said that opening a window only partially or tilting it is not enough. Cross ventilation is ideal when windows can be opened on opposite sides.
The Federal Environment Agency notes that the temperature in the room only drops a few degrees when it is ventilated. After closing the windows, the room temperature rose again rapidly. With simple ventilation, in addition to aerosols that could potentially contain viruses, CO2, moisture and chemicals would also be effectively removed from the air.
