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Germany in 'middle of Omicron wave', says Health Minister

The Local Germany
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Germany in 'middle of Omicron wave', says Health Minister
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach on Friday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said although Covid measures were working, there was no reason to sound the all clear because Germany is still in the grip of the Omicron wave.

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Lauterbach said he expected the number of Covid infections to rise further in Germany, but said restrictions and more vaccinations would build protection against the variant, and slow it down. 

The Health Minister gave updates about the German Covid situation at a press conference with Robert Koch Institute (RKI) President Lothar Wieler and high profile Charité Hospital virologist Christian Drosten. 

"We see that the contact measures are working," said Lauterbach (SPD), adding that contacts had been reduced significantly. 

The rate of growth of infections has slowed in Germany. A few weeks ago, infections doubled every 4.5 days, now it is approaching 6.5 days.

But Lauterbach said there was "no reason to sound the all clear" at this stage, adding that Germany was "in the middle of the Omicron wave".

Germany saw a record high of 92,223 new Covid infections within 24 hours on Friday. The nationwide 7-day incidence rose to 470.6 infections per 100,000 people on Friday.

There were also 286 deaths connected to Covid within 24 hours. 

READ ALSO: Germany records more than 80,000 daily Covid infections

RKI boss Wieler warned that the number of Covid-related deaths will rise again in the coming weeks.

"The Omicron wave, it continues to grow and with a momentum we have not seen before in this pandemic," Wieler said. Omicron now accounts for more than 70 percent of new infections, he said.

"We expect that this will completely displace Delta (variant) in the next few days."

Currently, he said, there are just under 800,000 active cases - about one per cent of the population: "And those are only the cases we know about from the reporting system."

It's not possible to prevent every infection, he said, but "we have the tools" to prevent many infections. Wieler appealed to people once again to get vaccinated.

'Far too many cases'

Charité virologist Drosten said he felt the Omicron situation was misunderstood by many.

Although Omicron tends to lead to milder disease in most people, there are "far too many cases", Drosten said. The advantage of being less dangerous is "wiped out" by this.

According to Drosten, three million people over the age of 60 in Germany have not yet been vaccinated, and almost nine million people have not been boosted.

For this reason, he warned against allowing Covid to run its course through the population right now without measures in place. 

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Lauterbach agreed, saying that the number of victims would be "too high" and that there wasn't enough immunity.

Drosten said he hoped the population would reach a high level of immunity - and turn into an endemic - by next winter.

Lauterbach also advocated that Germany introduce a general vaccine mandate, saying vaccinating more people would be the quickest and safest way out of the pandemic. 

MPs in the Bundestag are set to vote on a vaccine mandate in the coming weeks. 

READ ALSO: German MPs to decide on general vaccine mandate ‘in March’

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Anonymous 2022/01/17 18:13
I hope.
Anonymous 2022/01/15 22:18
I think the above comments are inappropriate and require moderation.
  • Anonymous 2022/01/17 13:48
    This comparison is completely disproportionate: the government isn't saying people should boycott the purchase of goods or services from people who are unvaccinated - do you really think the government is going around applying spray paint to shop fronts? This was clearly the actions of an individual, who should probably be arrested for vandalizing property, if they can be identified. All the government is doing is limiting the freedoms of people who are both unvaccinated and cannot prove they had COVID in the previous six months because good evidence exists that these people pose a danger to public health at a time when 1-2 thousand people per week are dyeing of COVID and hospital capacity is being stretched. Third reich attitudes to Judaism were based on bigotry and hatred, not evidence, therefore, I maintain that your comparisons are disproportionate, inappropriate and offensive.

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