One year of Corona: How is Lower Saxony doing? - Latest news from Lower Saxony

It is not a day that has burned itself into the collective memory, but it was of great importance for Lower Saxony: On February 29, 2020, the first Corona case in the country was confirmed. A 68-year-old man from Uetze near Hanover was affected. He was the first of almost 160,000 people to be infected.

Where does Lower Saxony stand today?

For a long time, the country performed comparatively well, had lower infection rates than other regions in Germany. Six months ago only around 16,000 infections were known, today there are almost ten times as many. The seven-day value was then well below 10, today it is just under 70 above the national average. And Lower Saxony is in the “probably most difficult phase of the pandemic,” as the SPD parliamentary group leader Johanne Modder said. On the one hand, the months-long, stressful lockdown is draining patience, and calls for relaxation are growing. On the other hand, many still do not feel adequately protected. And with the virus variants, the more contagious mutants, a barely predictable new danger has arisen.

How is the country’s crisis management going?

It jerks in many places. Vaccinations, protection concepts, Corona aid – none of them are perfect, Prime Minister Stephan Weil recently admitted in the state parliament. But the progress cannot be overlooked, said the SPD politician. The Greens and FDP, but also seniors, teachers, parents, doctors and many others see it differently. You have the long waiting times for the rare vaccination appointments in mind, the information letters to the long dead, the lessons in cold classrooms, the difficult-to-access test options or the double burden of childcare and home office. The FDP has already called for Health Minister Carole Reimann (SPD) to be deposed, mainly because of the breakdowns in the vaccination campaign. The Greens and the FDP also wanted the state parliament to vote on the government’s corona rules – but the SPD and CDU thwarted the proposal.

Are the number of infections falling?

The so-called second wave, which started in the fall, does indeed seem to be getting smaller. At its peak, there were more than 20,000 current corona cases in Lower Saxony in the winter months. Currently there are a little more than 12,000. Most recently, however, the curve for new infections showed slightly upwards again on a few days. In total, almost 160,000 infections were confirmed in the country during the first Corona year. More than 4,000 people have died from or with the virus.

How common are the mutants?

“We are not at the mercy of the mutation without protection, but we have to remain cautious for the next few months,” said Prime Minister Weil. Contrary to what has been assumed, a considerable part of the new infections in this country can also be traced back to virus variants, in particular the so-called British mutant B.1.1.7. Weil called it treacherous that this risk was not shown in the statistics. But this is partly self-inflicted, because unlike Bremen and Baden-Württemberg, for example, Lower Saxony started very late to examine positive corona samples across the board. The crisis team recently put the proportion of mutants in the corona cases nationwide at ten percent. In some regions, however, almost every second infection can be traced back to it.

Is the vaccination campaign making progress?

More slowly. It looks best in the nursing homes. The first vaccinations were distributed in 90 percent of the homes, and the second vaccinations in 60 percent. But beyond that it is stalling – because the vaccine manufacturers have not kept their delivery promises, says the state government. And because the government made the allocation of vaccination appointments unnecessarily complicated, says the opposition. After all: around 120,000 people who are 80 years or older and do not live in the home have received their appointments. Around 210,000 more are still on the waiting list. All those willing to vaccinate in the country should receive an offer by the end of September at the latest.

Do other federal states vaccinate faster?

Yes. Lower Saxony is lagging behind, especially when it comes to first-time vaccinations. Around 264,000 people have received their first injection so far. That corresponds to 3.3 percent of the population – a shared last place with Brandenburg. Unlike at the beginning, the country is no longer putting aside every second vaccination dose for the second vaccination. In view of the red lantern, the state government also prefers to refer to the progress made with second vaccinations. But even there, with a vaccination rate of 1.7 percent, it is only enough for a shared penultimate place ahead of Hessen (1.6 percent).

Was the second lockdown too late?

That could be. Many scientists had already seen the second wave coming and warned, said the Braunschweig virologist Melanie Brinkmann the “Spiegel”. “In the end, however, many prime ministers probably didn’t play along. So we lost valuable time. Schools stayed open and mobility remained high. This two-week delay until the beginning of November alone has cost us around 30,000 lives in the last three months. ”Prime Minister Weil is now warning:“ We have to start earlier and more consistently when the number of infections rises again. ”

Is a third wave looming?

That depends not least on the spread of the mutants, as the head of the Corona crisis team, Heiger Scholz, said. He gave an example: “If the South African variant should become dominant, where it is doubtful whether and which vaccines will work, then we will get completely different developments than we currently have.”

What are the economic consequences of the crisis?

Unemployment has increased significantly. In January, 267,000 people in Lower Saxony were without a job – 16 percent more than a year earlier. Thousands of companies also registered short-time work. The most recent final figures are from July: At that time, 28,747 companies in Lower Saxony with 264,757 employees were on short-time work. And the state budget has to cope with the loss of billions in tax revenue, the country’s mountain of debt is growing.

Is Lower Saxony going a separate way with schools?

No more. When the graduating classes and primary school pupils came back to schools after the Christmas break, Lower Saxony received a ruffle from the Federal Chancellery. Today, the same model continues to apply – albeit with no longer required to be present so that parents can leave their children at home. This is expressly agreed with the federal government, the state government asserts. In fact, the country is not alone. In ten federal states, primary schools open again on Monday, sometimes with entire classes. Others, like Lower Saxony, had opened earlier, the others want to reopen by March 1st at the latest.

When will it finally be normal again?

That is far from being foreseeable. After all, the hairdressers open again on March 1st. However, further easing will become apparent after the next federal-state round on March 3rd at the earliest. A stable seven-day value below 35 was named as a prerequisite for this. It is not yet in sight. Lower Saxony’s step-by-step plan, however, already holds out the prospect of the next steps in opening at a value below 50, including for private meetings, shops, restaurants, hotels, schools and daycare centers.

How is things going in neighboring Bremen?

Bremen was a corona hotspot in November 2020 with an incidence value of over 255. For months, the situation in the two-city state was mixed, because the value in Bremen was very much higher than that in Bremerhaven, around 60 kilometers away. The relationship has now been reversed. Bremen recently had a seven-day value of around 60 and Bremerhaven of almost 100. The country often led the way in fighting pandemics, for example distributing FFP2 masks free of charge to citizens over 65 years of age or paying for taxi rides to the vaccination appointment for over 80-year-olds. The course of the left health senator Claudia Bernhard is basically supported by the majority of the opposition. There were huge differences of opinion on the subject of school openings alone.

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One year of Corona: How is Lower Saxony doing? – Latest news from Lower Saxony