Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Ireland as a warning example
Merkel is preparing for ten difficult weeks
Will the lockdown be extended in February? There are many indications of this. In an internal meeting, Chancellor Merkel is now warning of a rapidly increasing incidence if the British virus continues to spread. Hard weeks are ahead.
Chancellor Angela Merkel fears a rapidly increasing incidence in the Corona crisis and warns of "difficult weeks" until Easter. According to information from ntv, she cited developments in Ireland as a warning at a meeting of the working group inside. There the incidence has multiplied in a short time. Germany faced eight to ten difficult weeks, depending on how quickly the British virus spreads.
According to ntv information, it was not clear from her statements whether Merkel was in favor of extending the lockdown that was already in place until the end of January. However, they themselves could not decide on their own – each federal state would have to do that for itself. The mutation, known as the "British virus", worries many politicians and professionals. It is considered more contagious than previously known variants of the Covid-19 pathogen. The seven-day incidence in Germany is currently 164.5, as the Robert Koch Institute announced in the morning. Around 12,800 new infections were registered.
In the UK the situation is far more dire. There, more than 50,000 infections have been counted every day for about a week, the incidence is just under 600. The number of deaths recently exceeded the mark of 900 per day. A new lockdown was enacted in the UK on January 4th and is expected to run until mid-February. In neighboring Ireland, the incidence soared to over 900, but has recently fallen somewhat. It cannot be said with absolute certainty how this rapid increase is to be explained – but the more contagious virus could play a role in it.
50's incidence is expected to be reached by the end of January
The declared goal of the federal government is to reduce the 7-day incidence to 50 cases per 100,000 in order to be able to get back into contact tracing. The professional association of German medical officers recently expressed doubts that this goal can be achieved by the end of January – and before that, several other experts. It is also feared that with the new virus variant, more people will have to be vaccinated to stop the pandemic. So far it has been said that around two thirds must be immunized – since the appearance of the new virus variant, 80 percent and more have been mentioned. In the meantime, a good 600,000 people in this country have been vaccinated.
Merkel had already warned in autumn that there could be 20,000 new infections a day by Christmas if you did not enter a lockdown again. In view of the around 2000 registered cases per day at the time, this seemed extremely high to many. But she was right. In December, the RKI even reported around 33,000 new infections in one day.
.