Omicron is hitting Europe. In several countries, it already is the dominating Corona mutation. In Germany, it may be a matter of days.
Berlin, December 29th, 2021 (The Berlin Spectator) — Europe has a serious problem called Omicron. Just before Christmas, the Danish government announced Omicron was the dominating Coronavirus variant in the country. Since, the infection numbers have exploded up there. On Tuesday, Denmark’s Seven Day Incidence was just below 1,700. No other Corona strain has pushed up the numbers as rapidly and as high as Omicron.
Tip of the Iceberg
In Switzerland, 55 percent of all new Corona infections are attributed to Omicron by now. The infection numbers are skyrocketing there too. The Dutch Health Ministry says half of all new infections in the Netherlands are connected to the Omicron variant. A sharp rise of the infection numbers is expected. In Belgium, another neighbor of the Federal Republic of Germany, reports that 60 percent of its new infections are Omicron cases. In Vienna, the capital of Austria, Omicron is the dominating mutation. A bit further away, in Greece, 70 percent of all new infections in and around Athens have to do with Omicron.
In Germany, exactly 6,257 Omicron cases were confirmed last week. The week before, 2,904 Omicron cases were counted by the authorities. These official numbers are probably just the tip of the iceberg. Experts believe it is a matter of days until the Omicron infection numbers will explode. New contact restrictions which were put in place this week are supposed to slow down the Omicron wave as much as possible.
40,043 New Corona Infections
Over the Christmas weekend, the Coronavirus infection numbers decreased, but the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin keeps on saying an interpretation of the data at hand was difficult right now because of the ongoing vacations. Many doctor’s offices are closed, some health authorities and hospitals do not report their numbers right now. At the same time, infection numbers from some regions that were not reported during Christmas are coming in now.
Officially, Germany’s Seven Day Incidence dropped down to 205.5, which is still higher than it has been in any previous Corona wave. Since yesterday, 40,043 new Coronavirus cases were registered. It is the highest number since December 23rd. In the past 24 hours, 414 COVID-19 patients died.
Triage Law in Preparation
In the meantime, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court took a decision according to which the legislature needs to protect handicapped persons in case triage becomes necessary at hospitals. Otherwise there was a risk they could be discriminated in a situation in which doctors have to decide which patients can be treated. Hospitals in Germany could be confronted with circumstances of this kind if Omicron increases the infection numbers as far as expert fear it might. Germany’s new Justice Minister Marco Buschmann stated the government would come up with a draft law soon.
Note: Since the editing software we use cannot handle the size of our Corona Chronology for 2021 anymore, we already are in 2022. Looking for the daily Corona update for Germany? Find it here.
ALL CORONA CHRONOLOGIES:
Corona Chronology for Germany, 2022 (from Dec. 22nd, 2021)
Corona Chronology for Germany, 2021
Corona Chronology for Germany, 2020
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[…] In the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and parts of Austria, the recently identified Corona mutation is already dominating the infection situation. Germany is not there yet, according to the official dat. But the number of Omicron cases is […]