Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

COVID-19

Germany sees more than 100,000 Covid-19 infections in 24 hours

Germany has registered more than 100,000 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours for the first time in the pandemic, according to data released by the country's public health agency on Wednesday.

Published: 19 January 2022 09:05 CET
People wait for a Covid test in Munich.
People wait for a Covid test in Munich. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sven Hoppe

Europe’s biggest economy recorded 112,323 coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours and 239 fatalities, the Robert Koch Institute said.

The weekly incidence rate reached 584.4 new infections per 100,000 people over seven days, the agency added.

Germany has further tightened curbs to cut contamination, limiting access to bars and restaurants to people who have received their booster jabs or who are tested on top of being fully vaccinated or recovered.

Contact restrictions are also in place keeping private gatherings to 10 people, or two households if an unvaccinated person is present.

Germany’s record rise in coronavirus cases comes as Omicron has become the dominant variant, accounting for more than 70 percent of new infections.

READ ALSO:

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the true number of infections could be up to two times higher than the official figures.

Numbers will likely continue to rise, peaking in around “mid-February”, he told the RTL broadcaster.

Other European countries are also battling soaring Omicron rates, with neighbouring France recently averaging around 300,000 cases daily.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is seeking to introduce compulsory vaccinations to ramp up the immunity of the 83-million-strong population, of which 60 million are fully vaccinated.

But resistance has been growing in the country where the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine was first developed, with the business-friendly FDP party – junior partners in his coalition — casting doubt on the project.

Hundreds, at times thousands, of protesters have also been taking to the streets to rail against the government’s Covid strategy and planned vaccine mandate.

Despite the dissent, Scholz insisted that vaccinations are necessary.

“I, for one, believe that it is necessary and will actively push for it,” Scholz told parliament last week at his first question time as chancellor.

READ ALSO: ‘Difficult weeks ahead,’ warns German Health Minister on Omicron fears

Member comments

  1. How many of the 112,323 are actually sick?

    The numbers of deaths are going down
    The number of intensive bed patients going down.

    Making this jab mandatory is not a good idea.

    1. Aren’t you tired of repeating the same (incorrect) shit in every The Local article on COVID?

      All of them are sick. Even if someone asymptomatic, they can become symptomatic at any time during the infection, and they can still infect and kill others.

      Number of deaths and ICU patients always trails the number of infections by 2-4 weeks – so it will go up again very soon.

      1. Its really easy i just copy and paste.

        Prove my assertion to be incorrect. With data.
        Or you can get all but hurt and report me.

      3. Since humans have the gift of hindsight, I will ask you: of the RECORD cases we had (again) 2 weeks ago how many ended up sick? ALL of them? Are you saying that 40-50-60 thousand of people EVERY day ended in the hospital? How paranoid and insane are you?

  2. This new Scholz guy is wrong on every issue he’s come across yet. Mandatory vaccines and now placating Putin. It didn’t work for Neville and it won’t work for Scholz.

    1. Sholz has to get into bed with Putin. This green drive is an utter disaster leaving Germany and most of Europe without enough energy should we upset Russia. Its like a car crash in slow motion. You can see it coming and know its going to hurt.

  3. Keep going Flynn. Refreshing to see a sane voice on these Forums. Too many people have gone down a dark dark road.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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.

SHOW COMMENTS