The number of reliably proven and probable Omicron cases in Germany transmitted to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has more than tripled within a week. 35,529 would now be assigned to the new Corona variant, according to an RKI overview page on Tuesday (data status January 4, 2022). A week ago, the value was 10,443 (data as of December 28, 2021).
The data refer to cases since November, most of the evidence currently comes from the previous week with 20,525 (previous week: 9584). A graph from the RKI on the development over time shows a very steep increase in the weekly reported numbers in connection with Omikron.
For the current and the past week, the RKI expects a high number of new and late registrations. Depending on the detection method, several days or weeks can therefore elapse between the initial report of a corona infection and the laboratory result of the presence of a certain variant.
Only a small proportion of positive samples are tested for variants such as Omikron
According to the RKI, the figures only include Omikron cases that have been reliably proven by a complete genetic analysis or in which a variant-specific PCR test has revealed a suspicion of Omikron. In Germany, only a small proportion of the positive samples are tested for variants.
Detailed information on the cases recorded is currently only incomplete. It is currently stated that six people from the age group 60 to 79 years, two from the group 35 to 59 years and one from the group 15 to 34 years have died. 361 cases were reported to have been admitted to the hospital. In 564 there was information that it was a reinfection – i.e. an infection despite previous corona infection.