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The number of new corona infections and deaths in Germany recently reached new highs. This development worries RKI boss Wieler. He warned of the return of exponential growth.
The president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Lothar Wieler, considers the recent increase in new corona infections “worrying”. “The situation is still very serious,” it has worsened since last week, Wieler told the RKI press conference. The plateau it is on is “extremely fragile.” “The infection process can be reversed quickly,” Wieler warned that there could be an exponential growth of new infections in Germany. You have to avoid that.
Wieler explained the situation by saying that the corona virus was very common in the population. Therefore, it is very important to respect the protective measures. According to the RKI, the situation in nursing homes and for the elderly is particularly difficult. Currently there are almost twice as many shoots there as in spring. On average, almost 20 people are affected by outbreak.
Wieler for hard lock
The RKI sees big differences within Germany: in some regions it appears to be more successful than others in preventing infections. “This shows that infection control measures work when implemented effectively,” Wieler said. RKI Situation Center Director Ute Rexroth added that the situation in Thuringia and Saxony is particularly worrying.
In Wieler’s view, the partial lockdown is not enough to get the situation back under control. Population contacts should be reduced by at least 60 percent, the current 40 percent is very few. With a strict lockdown, Ireland and Belgium had managed to reduce contacts by more than 60 per cent and thus reduced infections. In Germany there is also no good alternative to stricter measures unless contacts are significantly reduced beforehand.
Tougher measures are also being requested from politics. The leader of the CSU regional group, Alexander Dobrindt, considers that it is urgent to clearly reduce the number of infections before the holidays: “In order to later live Christmas closer to normal.” When the going gets tough before the holiday season, Dobrindt has an eye on schools, as he does at the ARD morning magazine Explained: These could move on to distance education or shared classes.
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach, who in an interview with the ARD capital study he claims: “Among other things, schools should be closed as soon as possible, preferably early next week.” Furthermore, alcohol should be banned in public places and citizens should be asked not to travel. Only small Christmas parties should be allowed, indoors preferably with a mask.
Tighter measures are increasingly likely after Christmas
When the next meeting of the country’s leaders with Chancellor Angela Merkel on crown measures has not yet been determined. Merkel had also asked that non-urgent stores close before January 10 after Christmas.
It seems more and more likely that public life will be closed almost completely after Christmas. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder is also promoting the closure of not only schools, but also many stores by January 10: “Just close everything. From stores to company holidays. If everyone participates, it would be that is great. We will not find a better time than the one that is until January 10 all year long. “
23,679 new infections
The number of new coronavirus infections in Germany had recently reached a new record: health authorities reported 23,679 confirmed cases to the RKI before midnight in 24 hours. That’s 1,633 more new infections than were added on Thursday last week. The previous record on November 20 was 23,648 new infections.
In addition, more than 20,000 people in Germany have died from or with the virus. The number increased by 440 to 20,372. The day before, a maximum of 590 deaths had been reported. The number of daily deaths has tended to rise recently, which was expected after the sharp increase in new infections.
With information from Kai Küstner, ARD capital studio
