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COVID-19

Germany’s Covid situation is ‘stabilising’, says Health Minister

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach says the decline in Covid cases means the situation is "slowly stabilising" in Germany - but urged people not to get complacent.

Published: 13 December 2021 17:32 CET
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

The 7-day incidence of Covid infections has been falling in Germany for several days, sparking hope that the country has got through the peak of the fourth wave. 

Experts have pointed out, however, that many cases are probably not being recorded because some health offices are overburdened. 

But the Social Democrat’s resident Covid expert Lauterbach, who took over as German Health Minister in the new coalition government last week, believes data now shows it is not an artificial decline. 

“The situation is slowly stabilising and the decline in the number of cases is real,” said Lauterbach on Twitter.

But he warned: “This trend must not be jeopardised by Christmas. Since the case numbers are still far too high, the booster campaign must be stepped up.”

The Health Minister had retweeted German data journalist Olaf Gersemann who said: “The number of new #Corona cases admitted to intensive care units has stabilised at around 300 per day.”

Lauterbach told broadcaster ARD on Sunday that the strategy now was to administer as many booster jabs as possible in Germany. 

He said getting boosters in people’s arms is “incredibly valuable” because it can end the Delta wave and avert the Omicron wave.

“That will be the focus for me to push that wave down,” he said, adding that he expected specific anti-Omicron vaccines to be available from April or May.

READ ALSO: German state plans Christmas ‘partial lockdown’ to combat Covid

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control, the nationwide 7-day incidence was 389.2 Covid infections per 100,000 people on Monday. A week ago, the nationwide 7-day incidence was 441.9.

In total Germany reported 21,743 Covid infections and 116 deaths within the last 24 hours. However, there was no data submitted for Lower Saxony. A week ago, almost 6,100 more daily Covid cases were recorded throughout Germany (27,836).

Among the German states, Thuringia has the highest incidence with 1032.7 Covid infections per 100,000 people in seven days, followed by Saxony with 1024.5.

The lowest incidence continues to be in Schleswig-Holstein with 162.4. Meanwhile, six municipalities are reporting an incidence below 100.

The number of people in hospitals with Covid infections remains high although the numbers are stabilising. The 7-day incidence of hospitalised cases stands at 5.17 per 100,000 people. 

According to the DIVI Intensive are register, 4,926 Covid-19 patients are in intensive care with around 56 percent receiving ventilation treatment. 

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FAMILY

German schools and kitas warn of closures amid staff sickness wave

Schools and nurseries in Germany could have to close their doors due to too many staff members calling in sick with seasonal infections, the primary school association has warned.

Published: 24 November 2023 10:56 CET
German schools and kitas warn of closures amid staff sickness wave

With temperatures dropping and Covid and flu infections spiking, experts are warning that the shortage of staff in schools and Kitas around Germany is becoming increasingly hard to manage. 

According to Edgar Bohn, the chairman of the primary schools association, parents could find themselves left without childcare at short notice this winter if local schools have to close their doors due to too many staff absences.

“The staffing situation in many primary schools in the country is on the brink and in some cases is below the calculated staffing requirement,”  Bohn told RND. “I cannot and do not want to imagine complete school closures, but they could certainly be the result in some cases.”

READ ALSO: Reader question: Can I take sick leave in Germany without visiting a doctor?

Bohn’s warnings were echoed by Waltraud Weegmann, the head of the German Daycare Association, who reported that the situation in nursery schools was already difficult. 

“Many daycare centres across Germany are currently struggling with a high number of staff absences,” she said.

In Weegmann’s view, the skilled worker shortage in nursery schools needs to be dealt with urgently.

“Haste is required,” she said. “Otherwise we will no longer have a daycare centre crisis, but a complete daycare centre collapse.”

Though almost all sectors in Germany are battling severe staff shortages, education and childcare regularly emerge as two of the worst-affected sectors in the country.

According to Jennifer Rotter, a spokesperson for the Workers’ Welfare Association, this “precarious situation” makes school and Kita closures not just likely, but inevitable.

“Reduced opening hours and even short-term closures due to a lack of staff are almost the rule rather than the exception at the moment,” Rotter told RND.  

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Which German sectors have the most job openings?

Covid inflections in Germany have been on the rise since the beginning of autumn, with official statistics from the Robert Koch Institute suggesting an incidence of 27 infections per 100,000 people in the space of a week.

However, since testing for the virus has sunk to very low levels, experts say the real figure is likely much higher.

In addition to infections with Covid-19, general respiratory infections like the flu are also going up. In the week ending November 19th, the frequency of this type of infection had risen to 8,700 per 100,000 people. 

Vocabulary 

wave of illnesses – (die) Krankheitswelle

short-notice – kurzfristig 

school closures – (die) Schulschließungen

precarious – prekär 

We’re aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

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