Measurements in Munich’s wastewater indicate a significant increase in corona infections in the state capital. The one on Tuesday on the Bavarian wastewater monitoring website The latest reading published from a sample last Wednesday is the highest so far since the beginning of the year. Compared to the value a week earlier, this has more than doubled.
Whether the increase is due to the Oktoberfest, which has been going on for a week and a half, cannot be clearly proven from the development of the numbers. Even before the start of the festival, there was already an upward trend. But there is a connection: the festival offers good conditions for the virus to spread, and in the past two years a steep corona wave had built up in Munich during the Oktoberfest.
Traces of the corona virus can be detected in wastewater. Their concentration allows conclusions to be drawn about the infection process. (archive image)
In 2023, the Oktoberfest wave in Munich was clearly higher in terms of wastewater levels than the winter wave. If the numbers develop as in previous years, a further significant increase in the next measured values would be expected in the coming days.
Although the measurement of corona traces in wastewater does not allow a direct calculation of the number of sick people and is subject to certain fluctuations, it is a good indicator of the development of the infection process. Other key figures based on corona tests, such as incidence, are now of little significance because hardly any sick people can be tested anymore.
