Offenbach: High number of unreported cases in corona cases suspected

• fromFabian Scheuermann

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In Offenbach, the number of corona cases was limited for a long time. The city suspects a high number of unreported infections.

For some, it has long become a scary – or, more recently, a calming – ritual: the daily view of the development of confirmed corona infections. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a regional difference has struck one that seems to persist: the city of Offenbach has a significantly lower infection rate than Frankfurt and the neighboring counties. For every 100,000 people, there are fewer reported infections in the city than in most of Hesse. But the numbers in Offenbach have been rising above average for about two weeks now.

Starting point: On March 20, when there were just five reported corona infections in Offenbach – but already 122 in Frankfurt – the head of the Offenbach Health Department, Bernhard Bornhofen, tried to explain the low numbers. Perhaps the head of the office presumed that there weren’t that many people out of town skiing. In fact, people in the neighboring municipalities had become infected at the beginning of the pandemic, especially on winter sports holidays in Austria and Italy.

Lots of young people in the city

It makes sense that the relatively poor Offenbach attracts fewer people on skiing holidays. But why could the low case numbers last for weeks despite being close to cities with higher infection rates? Is it because there is no test center in the city and people shy away from the way to the Frankfurt test centers also responsible for Offenbach? The city of Offenbach rather suspects that the social and age structure was partly responsible for the initially low numbers: Since the infection in young people is often symptom-free or poor and there are an above average number of young people in Offenbach, the undisclosed number of undetected infections is ” possibly quite high, ”says the city. This means: higher than elsewhere, where perhaps more infections have been detected.

However, there is no really sound explanation for the so far different developments in Offenbach and Frankfurt. Because Frankfurt also has a young population. It can hardly be explained that the Offenbach Health Office has registered an above-average number of new infections since the end of April. In fact, the number of active infections is increasing in the city. As of May 11, there were 131 confirmed corona cases in Offenbach, including those who recovered and died – this corresponds to 101 reported infections per 100,000 people. In Frankfurt this value – the cumulative incidence – is 180, in the district of Offenbach at 150, in all of Hesse at 144. Just two weeks ago, the value was 128 throughout Hesse, but in Offenbach it was only 65. Now the city is approaching the national average.

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