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COVID-19

Is Germany seeing a high number of Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations?

Covid infections are rife among children and young people in some parts of Germany, health experts say. We looked at the situation across the country, in hospitals, and what we can expect.

Published: 15 October 2021 10:20 CEST
A Covid-19 test centre in Munich with the word 'vaccine opponents' sprayed on in graffiti.
A Covid-19 test centre in Munich with the word 'vaccine opponents' sprayed on in graffiti. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Peter Kneffel

What’s happening?

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control said Covid cases across Germany are “stagnant”, but that the picture varies between states and age groups. 

One group being hit particularly hard is young people. In some parts of Germany, the 7-day incidence among young people is over 500 cases per 100,000 people.  

The RKI tweeted on Thursday to say the 7-day incidence of Covid cases among 10 to 19-year-olds is currently more than 500 in eight German districts. 

No further details were given on the specific districts, although the darker areas in the map below are where Covid-19 cases are highest in Germany. 

The district with the highest incidence in Germany overall is Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria with 312.2 Covid cases per 100,000 people within seven days.

READ ALSO: Why Covid cases remain high on the German border with Austria

Nationwide, however, the 7-day incidence last week in the under-20 age group fell slightly compared to the week before, the RKI said. The figures for people over the age of 20 went up.

The RKI also said there had been 636 school and Kita outbreaks reported in the past four weeks.

Covid-19 vaccines have been approved for children aged 12 and older. But the vaccination rate among 12 to 17-year-olds is still much lower than among adults. Although children and teenagers are much less likely to suffer badly if they get Covid-19 compared to older people, there are still unanswered questions about long-term effects, such as ‘long Covid’.

READ ALSO: German schools and Kitas face higher number of Covid outbreaks

What’s going on across the board?

The RKI said the increase in the 7-day incidence seen in Germany since the beginning of July is not continuing. 

“After a slight drop in September, the value is currently stagnating,” said the RKI in its weekly report, adding: “However, the number of cases is significantly higher than in the same period of the previous year.”

Experts warn that they expect a spike in cases in the coming months, despite vaccination rates being possibly higher than first thought.

“For autumn and winter, a renewed increase in the number of cases is to be expected, due to the still large number of unvaccinated people and more indoor contacts”

In Germany’s intensive care units, a plateau in the number of patients with Covid-19 has become apparent in recent weeks, the RKI says. At the moment, almost 1,400 adults with Covid are being treated in ICU. The DIVI Intensive Care Registry states that the proportion of minors affected is 0.7 per cent (as of October 14th).

The number of Covid patients admitted to German hospitals, which is now the most important factor on deciding Covid restrictions, stood at 1.93 patients per 100,000 people within seven days on Thursday.

The German government has not revealed a threshold for when the hospitalisation incidence would be viewed as critical. The previous peak hospitalisation incidence was around 15.5 at Christmas time last year.

Germany on Friday reported 11,518 new infections within 24 hours and 65 deaths. For comparison, a week ago, the figure was 10,429 infections.

The 7-day incidence was 68.7 Covid-19 infections per 100,000 people on Friday. The previous day, it had been 67.0, a week ago 63.8 (previous month: 77.9). 

Significant increases were recorded in the German states of Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Saarland in the comparison of the past two weeks, the RKI says.

Vaccination breakthroughs more frequent in old age

In the groups aged 70 and over, for whom the Standing Commission on Vaccination (STIKO) now recommends a booster shot, the incidence increase is slight, according to the RKI report.

It is higher among the very old over the age of 90. The incidence rose from 39 to 48 cases per 100,000 people in seven days in a week. In old age, the immune response after vaccinations is generally lower, and vaccine breakthroughs can more often lead to a severe course, STIKO recently said.

Member comments

  1. Please give your readers the whole story:
    1. Number of infections
    2. Number of hospitalisations
    3. Number of deaths with age, underlying conditions, vaccinated or not.
    This might well produce similar statistics to the UK where the hospitalised are mostly unvaccinated younger persons and the deaths are usually associated with deep underlying conditions combined with advanced age.

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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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