Spahn and RKI on the pandemic: Drastic corona scenarios and a call

Nationwide corona situation is worsening

Kerstin Breinig, RBB, daily news 12:00 p.m., March 26, 2021

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In particular, the British virus mutant, which is now widespread in Germany, is cause for concern. “We are facing very difficult weeks,” said Wieler. The new virus mutant B.1.1.7 is more contagious and has more severe courses.

Federal states should implement the emergency brake

Spahn therefore warned the federal states to also implement the emergency brake of the Corona resolutions should the incidence figures exceed the threshold. The emergency brake agreed by the federal and state governments provides for openings to be withdrawn if the seven-day incidence in a region or state rises to over 100 on three consecutive days.

For the upcoming Easter holidays, Spahn appealed to the population to meet as few people as possible. And if so, then ideally only in the fresh air. Wieler also called for people to stay at home at Easter. “Mobility and contacts are the drivers of this pandemic,” he said. That is why it is important to minimize meetings with other people and not to travel.

This Easter can not be organized again as usual, said Spahn. “We are in the last part of the pandemic marathon.” However, this is also the hardest part. “The goal is foreseeable, but it will take some time before it will be achieved,” said the health minister.

New entry regulations from Tuesday morning

At the same time, the Minister of Health announced that the new entry regulation would not come into force until Tuesday morning. Air travelers are then obliged to show a negative corona test before returning to Germany. Originally, the regulation should apply from Sunday.

Spahn justified the new scheduling with the fact that travelers and airlines should be given “a little more time” to prepare. There are some countries in which “the test infrastructure itself is not yet as developed”. The airlines would still have to organize the test offers there.

However, the regulation is not a “game changer” when it comes to combating the third wave. “The number of infections in the country itself is already too high for that,” said Spahn.

15 million vaccine doses in April

For April, Spahn hopes that the vaccination campaign will pick up speed significantly. “We expect 15 million vaccine doses for the month,” said Spahn. “Most importantly, no vaccine is left unvaccinated longer than necessary.”

However, the effect of vaccination is reduced by the increasing number of infections. In older people who have already received a vaccination offer, however, the vaccinations would already have an effect. The 7-day incidence in people over 80 years of age has fallen from over 290 at the beginning of January to 55 now. They are “below average” involved in the current infection process.

In addition to vaccinations, Spahn also relies on the corona rapid tests. Germany created an almost nationwide test offer within a very short time, said Spahn. “A good test infrastructure is an important prerequisite for possible opening steps.” However, this should only be thought of when the number of infections is significantly lower again.

Seven-day incidence increases to 119.1

In Germany, the seven-day incidence rose to 119.1 – the day before it was 113.3. After falling below 60 in February, the seven-day incidence topped 100 last weekend.

The health authorities submitted 21,573 newly registered cases to the Robert Koch Institute in the past 24 hours. That is almost 1,100 cases less than the day before, but around 4,000 more than on Friday last week.

In view of the increasing number of infections, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of government of the countries agreed on the extension of the current lockdown rules until April 18 at their Corona summit on Tuesday night. This means that the emergency brake decided at the beginning of March continues to apply, which is supposed to take effect at an incidence value of over 100.

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