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Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, now Stuttgart. The state capital also exceeded the critical corona warning value. The authorities see themselves at their limits when it comes to tracing contacts, now the Bundeswehr should help.
The number of new corona infections across the country soared in the middle of the week; big cities in particular are causing concern. After Berlin and Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart also had to report exceeding the critical value of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days on Saturday night. The capital of Baden-Württemberg now wants to take countermeasures quickly.
“The figures are increasing alarmingly, so much so that the health department can no longer guarantee the follow-up of contact persons, which is so important to control the pandemic,” explained Stefan Ehehalt, head of the Stuttgart health department. Therefore the entire city administration must now be mobilized for follow-up and the support of the Bundeswehr must be requested. Stuttgart Mayor Fritz Kuhn said after a conference call at the briefing that decisive action must be taken to reduce the numbers again. “This is the only way we can keep schools, day care centers, businesses and retailers open. This is the only way to ensure that all cases go back to the health department.”
Food also breaks the warning value
Nationwide, more and more cities are scratching the critical number of 50 new cases per 100,000 residents. They crossed Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Bremen and Cologne. Today, the North Rhine-Westphalia State Health Center announced that Essen, with a seven-day incidence of 57.3, is well above the warning value.
Nationwide, the number of people infected with the corona virus increased by 3,483 on Sunday, according to the Robert Koch Institute. From Wednesday to Thursday the value had risen significantly from 2,828 to 4,058, from Thursday to Friday the number was 4,516. On Saturday morning there were 4,721 new cases. Experience has shown that the number of registered cases is usually lower on Sundays and Mondays, also because not all health authorities report data to the RKI during the weekend.
The number of views, or R-value for short, was 1.42 based on RKI estimates on Saturday (previous day: 1.34). This means that an infected person infects around 1.4 people on average. The R value represents the infection rate approximately one and a half weeks earlier.
Warn Prime Ministers
In view of the significantly increasing number, several prime ministers called on citizens for discipline. “It’s getting dangerous,” said Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.” In the newspaper “Bild am Sonntag”, he advocated a fine of 250 euros per uniform nationwide for those who refused to wear a mask. It’s time for consistent action, Söder said. “If we hesitate too much, there is a risk of a second block.” Söder called for a curfew and a ban on larger parties and celebrations for a specified time.
His colleague from Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, urged people not to do everything “that they are still allowed to do.” The green politician added: “It is not necessary to have a party at home or in a restaurant.”
Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer also appealed to the young generation in the “Welt am Sonntag”: “Now we do not need full parties, but precautionary measures and controls.” The CDU politician defended stricter rules. “Now we need certain instruments to control the situation. We want to preserve to a large extent our social and economic life.”
Merkel and the mayor discussed metropolitan areas
On Friday, Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the situation with the mayors of Germany’s eleven largest cities. The development in metropolitan areas shows “if we can keep the pandemic in Germany under control or if control is slipping away from us,” Merkel emphasized. The agreed catalog of measures foresees, among other things, the deployment of experts from the RKI and the Bundeswehr if the threshold of 35 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants is exceeded in seven days. From 50 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, there should be new restrictions.
