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‘Football-Ischgl’: Bayern eager to stop next coronavirus hotbed at Super Cup

Bayern Munich boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge insists the German giants are eager to stop Thursday's UEFA Super Cup showdown in Budapest turning into a super spreader event due to a high infection rate of the coronavirus there.

Published: 23 September 2020 12:45 CEST
'Football-Ischgl': Bayern eager to stop next coronavirus hotbed at Super Cup
The Super Cup itself on display in Tallin, Estonia in August 2018. Photo: DPA

On Monday, Bavaria's premier minister Markus Söder warned against the match in Budapest becoming a “football-Ischgl”, referring to the Austrian ski resort where thousands of holidaymakers were infected with the virus at the beginning of the pandemic in Europe.

Söder added that amid the pandemic “I really get a stomach ache when it
comes to the Super Cup” between Bayern and Europa League holders Sevilla in
Budapest.

READ ALSO: Bavarian leader Söder has 'stomach ache' over Super Cup coronavirus fears

Rummenigge echoed Söder's comments on Wednesday, insisting Bayern Munich
have “every interest in ensuring that no Ischgl of football takes place” in Budapest.

“I think everyone's stomachs are churning. The game will take place in a city with an rate of infection of over 100 (per 100,000 inhabitants), which is twice as high as that in Munich,” Rummenigge told broadcaster ZDF.

“That has to be taken seriously.”

Up to 20,000 spectators would be allowed by UEFA into Budapest's Puskas Arena in a piloting project to test the return of fans into stadiums.

However, Budapest's mayor Gergely Karacsony wants the game played without
fans.

“If I had the legal means to decide that, I would let the game take place behind closed doors,” he told Hungarian newspaper Nepszava.

Rummenigge anticipates “less than a thousand” Bayern fans will actually make the journey and only around 500 Sevilla fans are expected.

“We have a great interest that they come back healthy and that nobody in Budapest gets infected,” emphasised Rummenigge.

He has promised a “serious and disciplined” approach with both Bayern and Sevilla offering travelling fans Covid-19 tests.

READ ALSO: 'Numbers are too high': Munich tightens coronavirus mask rules and contact restrictions

The Bayern chief also pointed out that to “all those who say that you really have to be extremely careful with the subject. We are”.

Bayern initially had an allocation of 4,500 tickets but hundreds of fans opted not to travel after the German government declared Budapest a risk zone.

European champions Bayern are also flying to Budapest with a small delegation of officials after being heavily criticised when a group of senior figures sat bunched together in the stands for Friday's 8-0 rout of Schalke.

Rummenigge was among the group not wearing masks and seated close together in the VIP stand for the opening game of the new Bundesliga season.

“At the next game we will keep the desired distance and wear masks, no problem,” said the 64-year-old.

READ ALSO: These are the countries and regions on Germany's 'high risk' coronavirus list

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HEALTH

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

It’s back again: amid sinking temperatures, the incidence of Covid-19 has been slowly rising in Germany. But is this enough to merit worrying about the virus?

Published: 20 September 2023 12:05 CEST
Updated: 20 September 2023 22:22 CEST
Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

More people donning face masks in supermarkets, friends cancelling plans last minute due to getting sick with Covid-19. We might have seen some of those familiar reminders recently that the coronavirus is still around, but could there really be a resurgence of the virus like we experienced during the pandemic years?

According to virologists, the answer seems to be ‘maybe’: since July, the number of people newly infected with Covid-19 has been slowly rising from a very low level.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), nine people per 100,000 inhabitants became newly infected in Germany last week. A year ago, there were only around 270 reported cases.

Various Corona variants are currently on the loose in the country. According to the RKI,  the EG.5 (also called Eris) and XBB.1.16 lines were each detected in the week ending September 3rd with a share of just under 23 percent. 

The highly mutated variant BA.2.86 (Pirola), which is currently under observation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), also arrived in the country this week, according to RKI. 

High number of unreported case

The RKI epidemiologists also warned about a high number of unreported cases since hardly any testing is done. They pointed out that almost half of all registered sewage treatment plants report an increasing viral load in wastewater tests.

The number of hospital admissions has also increased slightly, but are still a far cry from the occupation rate amid the pandemic. Last week it was two per 100,000 inhabitants. In the intensive care units, only 1.2 percent of all beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Still, a good three-quarters (76.4 percent) of people in Germany have been vaccinated at least twice and thus have basic immunity, reported RKI. 

Since Monday, doctors’ offices have been vaccinating with the adapted vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer, available to anyone over 12 years old, with a vaccine for small children set to be released the following week and one for those between 5 and 11 to come out October 2nd.

But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has so far only recommended that people over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions get vaccinated.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who should get a Covid jab this autumn in Germany?

“The pandemic is over, the virus remains,” he said. “We cannot predict the course of coming waves of corona, but it is clear that older people and people with pre-existing conditions remain at higher risk of becoming severely ill from Covid-19”

The RKI also recommended that people with a cold voluntarily wear a mask. Anyone exhibiting cough, cold, sore throat or other symptoms of a respiratory illness should voluntarily stay at home for three to five days and take regular corona self-tests. 

However, further measures such as contact restrictions are not necessary, he said.

One of many diseases

As of this autumn, Covid-19 could be one of many respiratory diseases. As with influenza, there are no longer absolute infection figures for coronavirus.

Saarbrücken pharmacist Thorsten Lehr told German broadcaster ZDF that self-protection through vaccinations, wearing a mask and getting tested when symptoms appear are prerequisites for surviving the Covid autumn well. 

Only a new, more aggressive mutation could completely turn the game around, he added.

On April 7th of this year, Germany removed the last of its over two-year long coronavirus restrictions, including mask-wearing in some public places.

READ ALSO: German doctors recommend Covid-19 self-tests amid new variant

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