Covid-19: RKI: More corona infections in carnival strongholds

According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), there are more corona infections after the carnival and carnival season with many celebrations and events.

Covid-19: RKI: More corona infections in carnival strongholds

According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), there are more corona infections after the carnival and carnival season with many celebrations and events.

An increase in the incidence values ​​​​can be "observed in regions with stronger carnival activities", according to the RKI weekly report on Thursday evening. According to this, a nationwide increase in incidence continued at a low level last week: it was estimated at plus 14 percent compared to the week before. However, the values ​​rose particularly sharply in Rhineland-Palatinate (36 percent), North Rhine-Westphalia (35 percent) and Saarland (34 percent) as well as in the 20 to 29 age group. This information only relates to laboratory-confirmed corona cases.

Many celebrations took place without protection requirements

The carnival stronghold of Cologne assumes that there is a high number of unreported infections. "The viral load in the wastewater was already increasing before the carnival, this trend continued during the street carnival and the week after," said a spokeswoman for the city of Cologne of the "Rheinische Post". "The health department assumes that the incidence is now ten times higher than the officially measured value." The RKI gave the seven-day incidence for Cologne on Thursday with 385.3 reported new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days.

Many celebrations and the street carnival with Rose Monday parades took place again this time without protective requirements and restrictions due to the corona pandemic. At the beginning of February, mask requirements in buses and trains in long-distance and local transport throughout Germany were lifted ahead of schedule. The RKI gave the nationwide seven-day incidence on Friday with 118.9 reported new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days - the range currently ranges from 55.1 in Saxony to 272.1 in Saarland.

As the RKI weekly report goes on to say, the nationwide development has so far not been accompanied by any very noticeable changes in hospital admissions. The number of doctor visits for acute respiratory diseases remained stable last week and is in the range of the years before the pandemic. Furthermore, very old people from the age of 80 are most affected by severe Covid 19 courses and deaths. With regard to the virus variants, which have recently been increasingly spreading, the RKI states that no increased severity of the disease has been observed.

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