The federal and state governments have advised the states on the future course of the crisis because of the rolling omicron wave. Watch the press conference after the meeting in the live stream.
This text is continuously updated.
In view of the ever-increasing number of infections, there are no general easing of corona requirements in sight for the time being. “We don’t know whether the infections will continue to rise, so it’s important to stay on course first,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) after the consultations with the federal and state governments. Both sides “came to the conclusion that essentially everything should remain as it is for the next few weeks,” said Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) after the deliberations of the state heads of government. “So no tightening, but no easing either.” This basic line was also confirmed by the Brandenburg state government.
In order to increase the vaccination rate in Germany, the federal government wants to promote vaccination against the corona virus even more than before. With great effort, the federal government launched a new vaccination and booster campaign, said Scholz. In addition to posters with the motto “Vaccination helps”, there should now also be more calls on the radio and on social media platforms.
The aim is to convince as many people as possible of the vaccination in the next few days and weeks – above all of the first vaccination and the third booster vaccination. Here, after the 30 million vaccinations that Germany had received by the end of December, “the pace slowed down,” said Scholz. “The following applies: Vaccination helps. Even the first vaccination helps against difficult courses.” In Germany, just over 75 percent of the population has now been vaccinated for the first time. “It has to be a lot more. And we’re worse there than can be recorded in other countries.” But Germany is very good when it comes to boosters, explained Scholz. This path must be continued.
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WHO calls the end of the pandemic in Europe “plausible” after the omicron wave
It was already clear beforehand that the access restrictions that had been in force for months should remain in the workplace, on buses, trains, restaurants and shops. In order to deal with significantly more people infected with the more contagious virus variant Omicron, practical questions should also be clarified – a priority for more precise PCR tests and for tracking infection chains for sensitive areas. The Union in the Bundestag called for the rapid introduction of a vaccination register.
Wüst: “Look in both directions”
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) has justified maintaining the strict corona rules in view of the rapid spread of the omicron virus variant. “Omicron has changed the pandemic,” he said after the federal and state consultations. The mutation requires the utmost vigilance. The Federal Government’s Expert Council also considers the health system to be overburdened and has issued a “clear warning”. “The infection process requires the maintenance and strict implementation of the previous measures,” said Wüst, who is currently also chairman of the Prime Ministers’ Conference (MPK).
But in the next few weeks it would have to be looked “in both directions”, said Wüst. If there is a risk of the health system or critical infrastructure being overloaded, further measures would have to be agreed. However, the federal and state governments would also have to develop opening perspectives if overloading could be ruled out. Wüst announced the next federal-state consultations by February 16 at the latest.
In view of the rapidly increasing corona infections, the limited capacities for PCR tests are to be increased. All efforts must be made for this, according to the decision by the federal and state governments. At the same time, it was stated that it was essential to prioritize when bottlenecks occurred.
The federal states took note of the decision of the conference of health ministers to focus the limited availability of PCR tests on particularly vulnerable groups and on employees who care for and treat them. These are the staff in particular in hospitals, in practices, in nursing, in integration assistance facilities and for people at risk of serious illnesses.
Accordingly, a suspicion of a Covid 19 infection should continue to be clarified by a PCR test. Likewise, PCR tests are to be used for high-risk patients in order to enable early treatment.
The number of corona intensive care patients rose again
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the seven-day incidence rose to the next high of 840.3 – after 806.8 reported new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days the previous day and 528.2 a week ago. The health authorities reported 63,393 new cases in one day. The number of corona intensive care patients rose again slightly. According to the daily report from the Divi register, 2,438 people were in intensive care treatment on Monday – twelve more than the day before. At the peak of the fourth wave in December, there were around 5,000. Then the number fell continuously for a long time.
“We are currently seeing a trend reversal in the normal wards, but not yet in the intensive care ward,” said the head of the register, Christian Karagiannidis, when asked by the dpa. On Sundays, few patients would be moved away from the intensive care unit. “I wouldn’t overrate this.” The week will show where the trend is going.
Source From: Stern
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