Corona in Germany: Incidence beyond 100 – big city pulls the emergency brake

Two German metropolises are struggling with high incidence values. Meanwhile, the Robert Koch Institute had to struggle with technical problems on Thursday morning.

Update from March 19, 11:15 a.m .: The rising corona numbers already indicated it, now the third wave has finally arrived in Germany. After three days with incidence values ​​over 100, Hamburg has now pulled the Corona emergency brake. This means that the opening steps that were carried out at the beginning of last week will be reversed from Saturday, Mayor Peter Tschentscher said on Friday.

It was only in the morning that the RKI spoke with Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn and expert Karl Lauterbach about the current situation in Germany. A third lockdown was also discussed. Not surprising, as the current corona numbers have risen steadily over the past few days. As the Robert Koch Institute reported on Friday, 17,482 people have officially tested positive for the corona virus in the past 24 hours. Around 5,000 more people than on Friday last week.

Update from March 18, 5:22 p.m .: The free dispensing of FFP2 masks by pharmacies was a blessing for the pharmacists *. This was the result of research by the public broadcasters NDR and WDR in cooperation with the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

According to the report, thanks to an overpriced deal, pharmacists received significantly more money from the federal government than it cost to procure the corona protective masks. Decisive for this is a laboriously implemented issue of the FFP2 masks by pharmacies, although the same products would have been much cheaper in retail.

The federal government transferred a sum of 491.4 million euros to the pharmacists’ association, which in turn redistributed the money to the pharmacies. The pharmaceutical dealers benefited from the fact that, regardless of the number of masks, there was a fixed share of federal funds – on average over 25,000 euros per pharmacy.

Corona in Germany: Two German cities with over a million people cannot get their incidence under control

Update from March 18, 3:48 p.m .: Two German metropolises cannot get their seven-day incidence under control. In Cologne, the incidence is now above the limit value 100 for the fourth day in a row, as of Thursday the city is 110.1. It is not yet known whether the easing will be withdrawn. The Cologne express reports that the city’s crisis team has not yet taken any new decisions.

The seven-day incidence is also increasing in Hamburg; it is currently 105.4. According to NDR the city prepares the implementation of the “emergency brake”. For example, only Click & Collect purchases will be allowed in shops again, and the contact restrictions should also be tightened again, according to the report.

In the other two German metropolises, Munich and Berlin, the incidence is still below 100 – albeit with an upward trend here too. According to its own information, Munich is currently at 68.8, Berlin at 94.8, i.e. just below the limit.

Coronavirus in Germany: RKI is fighting with technology – figures from Hamburg not transmitted

Update from March 18, 2:37 p.m.: The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) continues to struggle with technology. “The data is currently being updated. Please come back later ”, so the note on the Covid-19 dashboard. According to the RKI, no data was transmitted from Hamburg on Wednesday (see also update from March 18, 10.55 a.m.).

The 7-day incidence in Germany has risen to over 90 for the first time since February 2. Hesse (100), Saxony (110), Saxony-Anhalt (107) and Thuringia (180) are above the 100 emergency brake. According to the RKI, Bavaria scratches the threshold with 96. The weekly value is already over 90, along with Bavaria in Brandenburg (92) and North Rhine-Westphalia (92).

Despite the increasing incidence, retail in Germany is pushing for shops to be opened across the board. The hygiene concepts and distance rules in retail have proven their worth. “With them, it is already possible to open all stores without hesitation,” said Stefan Genth, General Manager of the German Trade Association (HDE), on Thursday. Genth emphasized that the RKI had confirmed that the risk of infection when shopping was low. He called on the federal and state governments to decide on “a strategy change towards an evidence-based opening strategy” at the next Corona summit on Monday. The higher test rate and the utilization of the intensive care beds must be taken into account. “We now have to tackle the nationwide opening of trade and increase the speed of vaccination. Existences depend on the decisions made on Monday, ”he said.

Hamburg school authorities prohibit the use of the masks supplied by the federal government

Update from March 18, 1:25 p.m.: The Hamburg school authorities have forbidden the use of the KN95 masks provided by the federal government for school staff. The reason is the inadequate quality standard of the around 300,000 corona protective masks, according to a letter from the authority to the schools German press agency is present.

After the Federal Ministry of Health announced in January that “these masks were tested in a multi-stage process, the federal government, to our surprise, has now withdrawn the approval for use as medical masks for the KN95 masks from their own deliveries at short notice”. Previously, there had been reports of defective individual masks as well as recalls of individual makes and models.

Corona situation in Germany – the doctor’s president calls for “a lot of sense of proportion” when relaxing

Update from March 18, 12.55 p.m .: Due to the current Corona situation in Germany, the President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, is skeptical about further opening steps. “In view of our situation and also with a view to the vaccine deliveries and the slowness with which we currently have to vaccinate, one must continue to be careful,” he said on Thursday in the SWR. One has currently reached a point in the pandemic that is difficult to assess.

However, Reinhardt does not consider a tougher corona lockdown to be negotiable. It must now be acted “with a lot of sense of proportion and driving on sight”, said the medical president. He advocated making social life possible. At the same time, however, one should not run into a third wave, “which is too massive and which leads to overload in the care of the inpatients to be cared for,” Reinhardt explained.

Corona in Germany: outbreaks in KiGas drive up incidences in the Schwäbisch Hall district

Update from March 18, 11.55 a.m .: After a corona outbreak in a kindergarten in Schrozberg in the Schwäbisch Hall district, the small community has become one of the most polluted hotspots nationwide. The 7-day incidence rose rapidly to a value of 1065.5 (as of Wednesday) within a few days. In the municipality with around 5,800 inhabitants, a total of 62 new corona infections were registered during this period, the district announced.

The city of Crailsheim, also in the Schwäbisch Hall district, also has a high incidence value. There, outbreaks in kindergartens and a shelter for refugees as well as in several companies caused a significant increase. On Wednesday, the 7-day incidence in Crailsheim was 521.2. The entire district of Schwäbisch Hall is one of the hotspot regions in Germany with an incidence of 270.9.

Corona in Germany: Current RKI figures are not complete, but the trend is unmistakable

Update from March 18, 10.18 a.m.: The RKI published the current corona numbers for Germany on Thursday morning with a significant delay on its homepage. The RKI dashboard is still being updated.

The RKI reported 17,504 new corona infections in Germany on Thursday morning within 24 hours. This is again a significant increase compared to the 13,435 new infections reported on Wednesday. The RKI also points out that no data was transmitted from Hamburg. The actual number of new corona cases is therefore likely to be even higher.

The nationwide 7-day incidence rose again: from 86.2 the previous day to 90. Around four weeks ago it was 57. The number of daily corona deaths is not explicitly stated in the table on the RKI website. However, there you can find the total number of previous deaths in Germany. This was 74,132 on Thursday. On Wednesday there were a total of 73,905. It can be concluded from this that the health authorities in Germany reported 227 further deaths in connection with the coronavirus to the RKI within 24 hours.

Corona in Germany: RKI with “problems” – current figures are delayed

First report from March 18th: Berlin – The corona numbers in Germany have recently increased significantly again. On Wednesday morning, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 13,435 new corona infections within 24 hours. The 7-day incidence was 86.2. Both RKI President Lothar Wieler and numerous experts have already declared that Germany is in the third wave of the corona pandemic *.

The current Corona case numbers * for Germany are still a long time coming on Thursday morning. “The data is currently being updated. Please come back later ”, it says when calling up the RKI dashboard. The link to the RKI homepage also only leads to yesterday’s corona numbers.

“Due to technical problems, the current case numbers are only available at this point and on the COVID-19 dashboard corona.rki.de with a delay,” explains the institute. As soon as the current corona case numbers for Germany are available, we will inform you here. (ph) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

List of rubric lists: © Andreas Arnold / dpa