DAccording to the Berlin virologist Christian Drosten, the currently very strong spread of corona could last until around mid-April. “We are currently in a high-incidence phase. And that will remain so until Easter if you don’t intervene,” said the scientist from the Charité in Berlin in an interview published on Wednesday in the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”.
In preparation for the fall, it must be ensured that effective medication is available for risk patients. With a view to the summer, Drosten also said: “And you probably have to control the infection process with relatively mild measures. Masks in rooms are still one of the most efficient means.” However, young people who have been vaccinated three times can move freely again and, in the event of an infection, also build up immunity for the community. Long Covid is much less common in vaccinated people.
Stricter measures may be necessary in winter
For the winter, the corona expert expects that “very likely” more severe intervention will have to be made. The current immunity will no longer help against transmission in the fall. In general, it will take years to build up community immunity like influenza, Drosten confirmed. One will therefore “have to control the incidences for years to come with relatively mild measures in autumn and winter”. Booster vaccinations in autumn with a focus on risk groups could also help contain the virus. He did not explain what measures might be necessary.
Drosten recently announced that he would be leaving the successful podcast “The Corona Virus Update” on NDR-Info after around two years, and an episode with him and virologist Sandra Ciesek has yet to be announced. Drosten made it clear that it was a misunderstanding to understand this step as a sign of the easing of the pandemic. “I confess, I was the one who said: I can’t do it anymore.” He needs time for research and for the management of his institute. If major problems arise, he wants to speak up in interviews.
Seven-day incidence continues to rise
The nationwide seven-day incidence has again increased slightly. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week on Wednesday morning as 1734.2. For comparison: the day before the value was 1733.4. A week ago, the nationwide incidence was 1607.1. The health authorities in Germany reported 283,732 new corona infections to the RKI within one day. This is evident from the numbers, iie reflect the status of the RKI dashboard at 5 a.m. A week ago there were 262,593 infections.
Experts assume a high number of cases that are not recorded in the RKI data. One reason is the limited capacity of health authorities, for example, and contacts are often only tracked to a limited extent.
According to the new information, 329 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. A week ago there were 269 deaths. The RKI has counted 19,278,143 proven infections with Sars-CoV-2 since the beginning of the pandemic. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections go undetected.
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