The EU recommends a second corona booster vaccination for people over the age of 60. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach warns against underestimating Long Covid. And Jens Scholz criticizes his brother Olaf Scholz’s corona policy. All news can be found here in the Corona ticker.
9:18 p.m .: Sick leave when you call – what was possible until the end of May because of Corona should be possible permanently for certain patients according to the will of medical representatives. “We want to make it possible for the resident doctors to be able to write sick patients over the phone, regardless of the corona pandemic,” said Stephan Hofmeister, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), on Tuesday of the German Press Agency. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is open to the demand.
The chairman of the German Association of General Practitioners, Ulrich Weigeldt, called it “a real nuisance” in view of the numerous cases of colds and corona diseases that the possibility of determining incapacity for work (AU) by telephone had not been included in standard care. “The telephone AU would provide real relief,” Weigeldt told the dpa.
Health Minister Lauterbach correctly called a return to telephone sick leave. It should be decided soon. Preliminary talks were under way. “With the high number of Covid cases, we do not need to carry the infections to the practice,” emphasized the minister on Twitter.
Tuesday, July 12, 3:27 p.m .: Because she is said to have caused a corona outbreak with deaths in a nursing home, the Hildesheim public prosecutor’s office has brought charges against a 45-year-old. The former employee of the home is accused of negligent homicide in combination with negligent bodily harm, the authority said on Tuesday. Despite the corona infection of her son who lives with her, she initially continued to work. She informed her employer about her son’s infection on November 26, 2021. She was then allowed to continue working because the home mistakenly assumed that she had been vaccinated twice. Actually, she should have gone into quarantine.
The woman is said to have been infected with the corona virus unnoticed at the latest three days later and infected a work colleague during a coffee break. As a result, three other employees and eleven residents became infected. Three residents aged 80, 85 and 93 died. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the forensic medical examinations showed that the corona infection was the cause of death in the 80-year-old. Other causes cannot be ruled out for the other two victims.
The woman had called in sick on November 30th. A week later, she is said to have informed the home about the hospitalization of her partner, who also had Covid-19. During this conversation, the employer is said to have reminded her to present her vaccination card. The woman sent a photo of an ID card, which turned out to be a fake. The investigations into forgery of documents are being conducted in a separate procedure.
The investigators had the PCR smears of the deceased residents, the suspects and their partner, who had died in the meantime, examined more closely. According to this, a connected chain of infection can be assumed. However, the accused’s sample was accidentally destroyed in the laboratory.
Monday, July 11, 11:37 a.m .: The EU recommends a second corona booster vaccination for people over the age of 60. “In view of the renewed increase in cases and hospital admissions at the beginning of the summer, I urge everyone to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible,” said EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides on Monday, according to a statement from the EU health agency ECDC and the EU Medicines Agency EMA. “We have no time to lose.”
Kyriakides called on EU member states to “immediately provide second booster vaccinations” for people over 60 and other particularly vulnerable people.
In Germany, the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) has so far recommended a second booster vaccination for people over the age of 70, at-risk patients and residents of care facilities and employees in the medical field and in care facilities. In view of the easy transmissibility of the omicron variant of the corona virus, the nationwide seven-day incidence is currently 661.4 new corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants.
The German Association of General Practitioners called on the federal government on Friday for a new vaccination campaign to fight the corona pandemic. “A positive vaccination campaign is needed – not only for the fourth vaccination, but also to close the vaccination gaps for the first and third vaccinations,” said the head of the association, Ulrich Weigeldt, to the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND).
Sunday, July 10, 11:01 a.m .: According to Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, the long-term health consequences of some corona infections are not only a problem for those affected, but also for the health system and society as a whole. “We don’t have the capacity to deal with the many cases,” he said in an interview with “Zeit Online”. “There are not enough specialized doctors, not enough treatment places, we don’t have any medication yet. Something is really coming our way here.” The problems associated with Long Covid are widely underestimated.
The SPD politician said: “This will also be relevant for the labor market, because unfortunately many will not return to their old productivity.” He is also hoping for a vaccine that will also help against infection with the omicron variant. “Hopefully this not only protects against a severe course, but also against infection and thus also against Long Covid,” the minister continued. Every corona infection carries the risk of long covid, Lauterbach warned on Twitter on Saturday.
According to an evaluation of data from insured persons published by Techniker Krankenkasse on Wednesday, almost one percent of employees who had received a corona diagnosis with a PCR test in 2020 were on sick leave in 2021 with the diagnosis Long Covid. The sick leave took a relatively long time – an average of 105 days.
12.04 p.m .: The chairman of the board of the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Jens Scholz, raises the alarm. Because of the Corona summer wave, 600 employees are currently missing there. “Due to the high staff shortage, we can currently only partially maintain patient care,” said the brother of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to “Welt”.
At the Kiel site, a third of the operating rooms are currently closed, and in Lübeck almost 20 percent. “In order to be able to guarantee emergency care, we have to postpone some of the operations that can be planned,” explains the anesthesiologist.
He criticizes that too many employees are being quarantined who have tested positive but feel good, are no longer infectious and can actually go to work. “This endangers the care of our patients, for example in the case of a heart attack, stroke or cancer.”
“We test ourselves to death in Germany,” criticizes the anesthesiologist. “This panic has to end.”
His suggestion: “We should deal with Corona like with the flu: if you are sick, stay at home. We don’t need rapid tests or quarantine regulations for this.” Wearing an FFP2 mask is enough to protect patients from infection. It is also important to offer all over 60-year-olds a fourth vaccination in autumn.
5:15 a.m .: The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the nationwide seven-day incidence on Friday morning as 700.3. The day before, the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week was 699.5 (previous week: 696.5; previous month: 276.9). However, the incidence does not provide a complete picture of the infection situation.
The health authorities in Germany recently reported 95,919 new corona infections (previous week: 98,669) and 104 deaths (previous week: 103) to the RKI within one day. Here, too, comparisons of the data are only possible to a limited extent due to the test behavior, late registrations or transmission problems. In general, the number of registered new infections and deaths varies significantly from weekday to weekday, since many federal states do not transmit them to the RKI, especially at weekends, and report their cases later in the week.
4.30 a.m .: The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) sees the increasing number of corona infections as a major burden on the economy. “Corona-related staff shortages are a challenge for many companies – especially when there is already a shortage of skilled workers,” said DIHK President Peter Adrian to the editorial network Germany. “Orders have to be rejected or take a long time, such as with construction.”
With a view to autumn, Adrian said: “With isolation and quarantine rules, the consequences for the loss of employees and thus the ability to work in the economy must always be considered.” For the functioning of everyday life “not only the health care system and the state infrastructure , but wide areas of the economy”.
Saturday, July 9th, 4 a.m.: Increasing corona numbers and high sick leave are affecting the operation of intensive care units in German clinics. “The high number of sick employees in particular is a problem for us in the health system – and some are finally taking their well-deserved vacation to start the winter months with renewed energy,” said the President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi), Gernot Marx. 55 percent of the 736 intensive care units worked in partially restricted or restricted operation. “Unfortunately, this is already a very high number that we have otherwise only seen in the colder seasons and a higher Covid load,” said Marx.
7.55 a.m .: The Special Representative for International Climate Policy at the Federal Foreign Office, Jennifer Lee Morgan, tested positive for the corona virus during Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s trip to Bali. A PCR test carried out by the state secretary on Thursday evening when she arrived at the hotel in Bali was positive, according to delegation circles on Friday. A quick test on Friday morning was also positive. Morgan isolated himself in the hotel and will no longer accompany the minister on the trip.
Baerbock wanted to travel from Bali to the island state of Palau this Saturday to find out about the consequences of the global climate crisis. She also wants to give a keynote speech on the subject of climate and security. Before leaving for Bali, the Green politician had said that in the Indo-Pacific region one could observe in a dramatic way how foreign and security policy, the global food crisis and the climate crisis were interwoven. Rising sea levels are threatening to swallow up the Palau archipelago.
Friday, July 8, 7:30 a.m.: The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the nationwide seven-day incidence on Friday morning as 699.5. This is evident from numbers that reflect the status of the RKI dashboard at 5 a.m. The day before, the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week was 690.6 (previous week: 682.7; previous month: 238.1). However, the incidence does not provide a complete picture of the infection situation. Experts have been assuming for some time that there will be a large number of cases not recorded by the RKI – mainly because by far not all infected people have a PCR test done. Only positive PCR tests count in the statistics. In addition, late registrations or transmission problems can lead to a distortion of individual daily values.
The health authorities in Germany recently reported 117,732 new corona infections (previous week: 113,099) and 131 deaths (previous week: 84) to the RKI within one day. Here, too, comparisons of the data are only possible to a limited extent due to the test behavior, late registrations or transmission problems. In general, the number of registered new infections and deaths varies significantly from weekday to weekday, since many federal states do not transmit them to the RKI, especially at weekends, and report their cases later in the week.
11.37 a.m .: Corona vaccination remains mandatory for Bundeswehr soldiers. The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig on Thursday dismissed the complaints of two Air Force officers against the inclusion of the Covid 19 vaccination in the list of mandatory vaccinations. Among other things, the plaintiffs saw their basic right to physical integrity violated by the regulation and demanded that the vaccination be removed from the list, but were unsuccessful in doing so. (Az. BVerwG 1 WB 2.22 and others)
Since the end of November, soldiers have been obliged to tolerate the corona vaccination, provided there are no medical reasons to do so. The basis is the Soldiers’ Law, which also stipulates compulsory vaccination for tetanus, hepatitis and other diseases.
From the point of view of the plaintiffs, the corona vaccination has not been sufficiently researched, and it does not prevent infection or disease. The court now explained that the Federal Ministry of Defense should examine and weigh up possible new findings on vaccination before issuing a new order for a booster vaccination.
At the start of the hearing in May, the presiding judge, Richard Häußler, made it clear that a decision in this case would only affect the two plaintiff officers. Further proceedings by soldiers from different units on the subject are pending before the Federal Administrative Court.
Thursday, July 7, 6:42 a.m .: The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the nationwide seven-day incidence on Thursday morning as 690.6. This is evident from numbers that reflect the status of the RKI dashboard at 5 a.m. The day before, the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week was 678.8 (previous week: 668.6; previous month: 199.9).
However, the incidence does not provide a complete picture of the infection situation. Experts have been assuming for some time that there will be a large number of cases not recorded by the RKI – mainly because not all infected people have a PCR test done. Only positive PCR tests count in the statistics. In addition, late registrations or transmission problems can lead to the distortion of individual daily values. The day before the month (June 7) was the Tuesday after Pentecost with comparatively few cases reported.
The health authorities in Germany recently reported 135,402 new corona infections (previous week: 132,671) and 108 deaths (previous week: 83) to the RKI within one day. Here, too, comparisons of the data are only possible to a limited extent due to the test behavior, late registrations and transmission problems.
In general, the number of registered new infections and deaths varies significantly from weekday to weekday, since many federal states do not transmit them to the RKI, especially at weekends, and report their cases later in the week. The RKI has counted 28,808,614 detected infections with Sars-CoV-2 since the beginning of the pandemic. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections go undetected.
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