Peak probably in mid-February
Lauterbach: “After Omikron time for relaxation”
1/25/2022 4:26 am
In view of the six-figure daily new infections, the federal and state governments currently see no leeway to make the current corona measures more generous. But that could look different in two to three weeks, says Federal Health Minister Lauterbach.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach expects that the corona measures in Germany can be relaxed after the omicron wave has been exceeded. At the moment, given the increasing number of cases, one still has to hope “that we can get there without tightening up,” said the SPD politician on Monday evening after the end of the federal-state consultations on ARD. But once the wave has been overcome, “for example in mid-February” and the number of infections has gone down again, “then the time has come to relax”.
Lauterbach had already stated several times that the peak of the omicron wave in Germany would probably be reached in mid-February. Until then, he expects several hundred thousand new infections per day. In view of the rapidly increasing numbers, the federal and state governments decided on Monday to maintain the applicable everyday requirements for the time being. However, they did not rule out further steps if the health system were to be overburdened.
Lauterbach fears that normal wards in particular will be under a lot of pressure in hospitals because omicron infections are often milder than infections with the delta variant. But it could be that there are also major problems in intensive care units. So that the hospitals would not be overwhelmed, Omikron should be at most about 10 to 15 percent as dangerous as the Delta variant, he calculated.
The health secretary also defended the plan to prioritize the use of PCR tests. In the future, they will primarily be used for people from corona risk groups and employees who care for and treat them. For other people, the PCR tests would not be deleted without replacement, but replaced by double antigen tests, emphasized Lauterbach. “If two consecutive antigen tests are positive, that’s almost as reliable as a PCR test.” According to Lauterbach, the details of the new test strategy will be discussed with the federal states in the next few days. This is being worked on at full speed. “But it has to be feasible, and that’s where the practical experience of the countries is worth its weight in gold,” he said. According to the currently applicable test regulation, for example, anyone with a positive rapid test is still entitled to a post-PCR test.