The fourth Corona wave is hitting all of Germany, but in the west and south of the country the numbers are increasing more quickly. A discussion about restricting unvaccinated persons more than others has begun.
Berlin, August 29th, 2021 (The Berlin Spectator) — For exactly 579 days, the Corona pandemic has caused a lot of problems. It has killed more than 92,000 people in Germany alone, almost 4 million persons have been infected. Three times, the virus nearly led to an overburdening of the German health system, and this danger has not been avoided yet, in spite of the vaccination effort. The fourth wave is increasing the infection numbers rapidly right now.
Red and Dark Red
Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has been registering and tracking all Coronavirus infections since the first case was reported in Bavaria in late January of 2020. On a Corona map the institute keeps on updating, the latest development is being illustrated quite well. At this stage, it shows red areas all over western and southern Germany, including a dark red one. The latter is the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the Corona infection numbers are even more alarming than elsewhere. A Seven Day Incidence of 125.3 was reported for this state today. All other red areas stand between 50 and 100.
The western and northern parts are orange and yellow. Former Corona hotspots such as Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia are yellow, since they are the areas with the lowest infection numbers right now. Here, the Incidence is below 25. Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Hither Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein are orange which means these states are above 25 but below 50, for now.
Critical Mark
Looking at the RKI’s list of cities and counties shows what kind of difficult situation Germany is in. In parts of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, the infection numbers have already reached levels comparable to those reported at the peak of the first three Corona waves. The city of Wuppertal stands at 249.9, Leverkusen at 222.1 and Rosenheim has an Incidence of 220.2. The remaining 409 counties in Germany are below 200, but many of them are on the brink of exceeding this critical mark as well.
Schweinfurt, Herford, Krefeld, Hagen, Düsseldorf, Bielefeld, Memmingen, Dortmund, Gütersloh, Bottrop, Duisburg and Cologne have very high infection numbers. The list goes on and on. The fact that the summer ends in three weeks from now is not helpful. When people meet indoors more, during the cold season, the infection numbers might rise at an even higher pace. That is why politicians in Germany are trying to figure out ways to slow down the fourth wave as much as possible.
No Joint Liability
In the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg, Interior Minister Thomas Strobl announced an approach many are considering. In case the number of Corona patients who needed to be treated at intensive care units rose further, it would be time to act, Strobl told the ‘Bild am Sonntag’ publication. A joint liability for vaccinated persons would be wrong. “That is why the rules for unvaccinated persons will be different from those for vaccinated people”, he said.
All relevant Corona numbers for Germany, and daily Corona updates, can be found in our Corona chronology.
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