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Coronavirus: North Rhine-Westphalia to slap €250 fine on people who give fake contact details

The western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) wants to crack down on people who give false contact information for the event of a Covid-19 outbreak in restaurants, cafes or hairdressers.

Published: 30 September 2020 11:41 CEST
Coronavirus: North Rhine-Westphalia to slap €250 fine on people who give fake contact details
A waiter stands outside of a restaurant in Cologne. Photo: DPA

People who fail to give accurate contact details to establishments to enable contact tracing face a €250 fine, reported RP Online.

NRW health minister Karl-Josef Laumann, of the centre-right Christian Democrats, announced the plans on Wednesday.

The fine is aimed at the person who gave the wrong details. However, hosts must also check the plausibility of the information on the lists, Laumann said.

The amount of the fine and further measures to contain coronavirus in Germany's most populous state will be laid out in the updated Corona Protection Law for NRW, which will come into force on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of Germany's 16 states agreed to tighten Covid-19 measures across the country.

Among the new rules are caps on the number of people at parties in badly-hit coronavirus areas, and fines for people who give false contact tracing details.

READ ALSO: 'More masks, less parties': Germany limits events and family gatherings to curb coronavirus

After the meeting, NRW state premier Laschet announced there would be higher fines in NRW. Above all, the penalty would have to be higher than the current fine of €150 for people who refuse to wear masks on public transport, he said. 

And, he said, the risk of infecting other people with the virus during meetings in restaurants, for example, is higher than on trains, so the fine needed to reflect that.

“In view of the falling temperatures, being in closed rooms for longer periods of time in autumn and winter and the imminent flu season, we must be particularly careful now,” said Laumann.

“This is particularly true in the area of leisure activities and private parties, which have recently been identified as one of the main causes of regional infections.”

The Robert Koch Institute reported 2,089 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday in Germany within 24 hours. The number of people who have died stands at 9.460.

On Saturday, 2,507 new corona infections were recorded, the highest figure since April.

Laschet said that it was in the health interest of each individual to leave his or her real name when visiting a public place. Contact tracing is “the key in the fight against the pandemic”, he said.

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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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