About two weeks have passed since the cold season officially began. And, as predicted, the Coronavirus infection numbers are increasing. The same applies to the number of ICU patients who are infected.
Berlin, October 7th, 2022 (The Berlin Spectator) — On September 7th, 2022, a month ago, 741 Corona patients were counted in intensive care units all over Germany. Since, this number has almost doubled. According to the DIVI Intensivregister, it rose to 1,361 until Thursday. Today’s number probably will be even higher.
Other Conditions
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin, there is an issue with these numbers. In its weekly Corona report, the RKI says infected patients with other diseases were part of them, meaning some of those 1,361 persons, 373 of whom are connected to respirators, may have been taken to the ICU because of other conditions, rather than their COVID-19 infections. But the same was the case a month a ago, when there were far less ICU patients with Corona infections.
Their number is one of several signs that show another difficult Corona period might be commencing right now. Just looking at the number of new infections per day leads to the same assumption. In the past 24 hours, 174,112 new Corona cases were reported. These are the cases identified in PCR tests, meaning the actual number is a lot higher. Germany’s Seven Day Incidence just reached 577.5. A month ago, it was 217.2. The number of Corona-related deaths is still high. One hundred and seventeen of them occurred in the past 24 hours.
Wishful Thinking
In part, the number of Corona infections might be on the rise because warnings are being ignored. What happened in Bavaria is exemplary. Ahead of the Oktoberfest in Munich, which ended on Monday, Germany’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach had said visitors should get tested for infections beforehand. Two days after the world’s largest public festival, during which unbelievable amounts of beer were consumed, the COVID-19 infection numbers down there suddenly went through the roof. Now, Bavaria’s Seven Day Incidence is 818.0. Only Saarland reported a higher Incidence level.
Karl Lauterbach just objected to claims according to which Corona was becoming more harmless, like a regular cold. This was wishful thinking, the Minister tweeted. Only few experts believed this. Unfortunately, the pandemic was not over, he added. He said the vaccines available needed to be improved further to protect people from multiple Corona variants and infections.
Mask Rule
Earlier, Professor Lauterbach stated Germany’s federal states should not wait too long before they put in place mandatory mask rules indoors again. The situation in Bavaria after the Oktoberfest showed what would happen if they did not take this kind of decision on time. Germany’s new Infection Protection Act gives the states the right to tighten the Corona rules.
Looking for the daily Corona update for Germany? Find it here.
ALL CORONA CHRONOLOGIES:
Corona Chronology for Germany, 2022
Corona Chronology for Germany, 2021
Corona Chronology for Germany, 2020