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COVID-19 STATS

Germany should avoid talk of ‘freedom day’, says Health Minister

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach says Germany is in the grip of a severe Covid wave and has urged states to make use of a law that will keep tougher measures in place.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach speaks at a press conference on Friday.
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach speaks at a press conference on Friday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

In a press conference held on Friday in Berlin, Lauterbach said that the pandemic was “far from over”.

“We are in a situation where we cannot simply wait and see,” Lauterbach said.

On Thursday, German health offices reported more than 300,000 infections within a day – a record high.

READ ALSO: Germany logs 1.5 million weekly infections as Omicron subtype spreads

But Lauterbach said the real figures are likely twice as high. 

“It is unfortunately not a good situation,” he said. 

The Health Minister also warned that the death toll could rise in the coming weeks, even if new infections stabilise.

On Friday Germany reported 296,498 Covid infections per 100,000 people and 288 deaths within the latest 24 hour period. The 7-day incidence was 1,7654.4 infections per 100,000 people.

‘No freedom day’

Germany is in the process of relaxing Covid restrictions. In fact, the country was set to drop almost all Covid restrictions on March 20th, but most states used a transitional period to extend current restrictions until the beginning of April.

The amended Infection Protection Act has been met with widespread protest from the states who have slammed it for being irresponsible and not easy to implement. 

However, Lauterbach urged states to make use of a ‘hotspot’ mechanism in the new Covid protection laws that mean tougher restrictions – like the ‘G’ rules for entering places like restaurants – can remain if needed.

“There can be no talk of a ‘freedom day’ – quite the opposite,” said the SPD politician. 

“We must also use the hotspot regulation.”

He cited Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as an example of how the rule could be applied by state parliaments. 

The northern state this week voted to extend Covid restrictions until April 27th using the ‘hotspot’ regulation as a legal basis.

Lauterbach said an overload of the health system can be measured and used to activate the regulation – for instance if scheduled operations have to be postponed or patients transferred.

He also reiterated that hotspots can be an entire federal state.

During the press conference Lauterbach urged people to get vaccinated – and for risk groups to get their second booster shot. 

The Health Minister even outlined how Germany is in a different position to countries like the UK.

Unlike in Britain, where the number of cases is also rising, there are five to 10 times as many people over the age of 60 at risk in Germany, he said. 

Member comments

  1. A. Lauterbach really wants 16 state size Hotspots so he can push his mandates through.

    The UK is absolutely comparable. Germany has a slightly higher vaccination rate. (Only very slight).
    The same percentage of infection amongst the population.
    A lower average death rate around 150-200 per day.

    Age distribution is at ages 15-64 is 52.3% in Germany and 54.9% in England.

    You can compare the 2 but lauterbach needs his sptiz.
    Pro mandate pro jab pro lockdown yada yada. Whe will this madness end?

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COVID-19 RULES

Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

Three years after Germany introduced a series of protective measures against the coronavirus, the last are set to be repealed on Friday.

Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

The remaining restrictions – or the requirement to wear a mask in surgeries, clinics and nursing homes – are falling away a couple of days after German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) made an announcement that the Covid-19 pandemic is “over.”

“We have successfully managed the pandemic in Germany,” said Lauterbach at a press conference on Wednesday.

In light of low infection numbers and virus variants deemed to be less dangerous, Germany has been steadily peeling away the last of its longstanding measures. 

READ ALSO: Germany monitoring new Covid variant closely, says Health Minister

The obligation to wear a mask on public transport was lifted on February 2nd. 

During the height of the pandemic between 2020 and 2021, Germany introduced its strictest measures, which saw the closure of public institutions including schools and daycare centres (Kitas).

“The strategy of coping with the crisis had been successful overall,” said Lauterbach, while also admitting: “I don’t believe that the long school closures were entirely necessary.”

Since the first coronavirus cases in Germany were detected in January 2020, there have been over 38 million reported cases of the virus, and 171,272 people who died from or with the virus, according to the Robert Koch Institute. 

Voluntary measures

In surgeries and clinics, mask rules can remain in place on a voluntary basis – which some facilities said they would consider based on their individual situations. 

“Of course, practices can stipulate a further obligation to wear masks as part of their house rules, and likewise everyone can continue to wear a mask voluntarily,” the head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, told DPA.

But Gassen said it was good there would no longer be an “automatic obligation”, and that individuals could take the responsibility of protecting themselves and others into their own hands. 

READ ALSO: Is the pandemic over in Germany?

“Hospitals are used to establishing hygiene measures to protect their patients, even independently of the coronavirus,” the head of the German Hospital Association (DKG), Gerald Gaß, told DPA.

With the end of the last statutory Covid measures, he said, we are entering “a new phase” in dealing with this illness. 

“Hospitals will then decide individually according to the respective situation which measures they will take,” he said, for example based on the ages and illnesses of the patients being treated.

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