In the fourth wave, it is mainly young adults who are infected with the coronavirus, according to data from the RKI. The incidence differences between individual age groups are large.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the fourth wave in the corona pandemic is picking up speed, especially through infections among young adults. In addition, it is also spreading increasingly in the middle age groups, it said on Thursday evening. As a rule, it is mainly the unvaccinated who come to the hospital. The dynamic in vaccination seems to be over anyway.
The seven-day incidence of infections among 15- to 34-year-olds was 115 per 100,000 residents on Thursday. That is almost twice as high as the nationwide comparison value 66 in the total population. However, there are strong regional differences: the values fluctuated on Thursday between 122 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in North Rhine-Westphalia and 15.5 in Saxony-Anhalt.
Low incidence in the elderly
The elderly and very old people with the highest risk of severe Covid-19 courses have for the most part already been vaccinated and protected. In the group aged 60 and over, the incidences within a week no longer rise nationwide to more than 17 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
One reason for the upward trend in infections among younger people could also be the declining willingness to vaccinate among non-vaccinated people. The proportion of immunized German citizens rose only slowly compared to the previous week. As of August 25, nearly 65 percent had been vaccinated at least once and nearly 60 percent had been fully vaccinated. A week earlier, these rates were around 64 percent for the first and 58 percent for the second vaccinations.
The positive rate of around 680,500 PCR tests in the 33rd calendar week from mid-August rose significantly: at almost eight percent (7.88), it was around five times higher than a month ago (1.63 percent). This is a signal that the pandemic is dynamic. A quarter of the newly infected were probably infected while on vacation abroad, currently mostly in Turkey.
More Covid patients in clinics
According to the RKI analysis, the increased number of infections among younger people is also noticeable when looking at the clinical data. While hospital patients with Covid-19 were on average 77 years old at the beginning of the year, the average age has been around 46 to 48 years since mid-August. According to the RKI, the recent general downward trend in clinics will not continue. The number of Covid patients is still at a low level, but is increasing visibly – especially among 35 to 59 year olds. The vast majority of Covid patients in hospitals are not vaccinated. Vaccine breakthroughs are very rare, the report says.
The spread of the virus is further determined by the Delta variant, which contributes to 99 percent of the infections. A subline of this type (AY.3) is currently found mainly in North America. There are speculations there as to whether it could be more contagious than Delta itself. According to the RKI, this subline does not yet play a special role in Germany. So far, it must be assumed that sublines have the same worrying properties as the variants from which they are derived.
