German Health Minister Jens Spahn called for an understanding of the continuing harsh conditions in Germany, saying they were needed to prevent a “considerable worsening” of the current situation, despite a slowdown in the rate of infections.
The death toll in Germany rose to more than 51,000 on Thursday, after rising by an average of 1,000 deaths a day in the past few weeks.
Spahn told a news conference, flanked by the head of the government’s disease control agency, the country’s leading coronavirus virologist and head of intensive care medicine, that the measures should remain in place until at least “the end of February or in March “. He cited the dangers of mutations first detected in England, South Africa and Brazil as a factor behind the decision.
Germany reported nearly 18,000 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, about 4,000 fewer than a week ago.
Spahn said he could understand the confusion of many Germans as to why the measures had been extended and intensified in recent days, despite declining numbers. He said the public’s dissatisfaction was reflected in a series of emails, phone calls and letters he received.
“The numbers of the last few days are encouraging. I’m going in the right direction. The rate of infection decreases. We are seeing the first relaxation of the intensive care units … but it is still a considerable burden for many Covid-19 patients in the intensive care units and in the hospital.
“But the numbers are still too high and what we need is to use intensively measures collectively, despite the many difficulties they bring, to continue to suppress numbers … so that this virus is controllable,” he said. .
For months, the rate of coronavirus in Germany has been too high to allow contact tracking, which Spahn said is a crucial tool to control the disease.
With nearly 5,000 beds of intensive care units currently being taken in patients with Covid-19, Spahn insisted that it is imperative to reduce the number of hospitalizations to prevent the health system from being overwhelmed.
“If we look at other European countries, we can see how quickly the situation is inflamed again,” he said, referring later to Britain and Portugal.
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In the face of renewed criticism over the slow progress of Germany’s vaccination program compared to other countries such as the UK, Spahn said he was confident it would grow rapidly as production capacity grew – with a new factory for the company. BioNTech, expected to be completed next month. The AstraZeneca vaccine will be available in Germany in the coming days.
To date, 1.5 million people have received jab, Spahn said. He said that 60% of the residents of the care homes have received a first blow so far and, in total, 80% have been offered and accepted the offer. The takeover rate has also now been higher than expected among care workers, of whom around 80% have taken over the offer so far.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that all citizens could be expected to be offered the job until September 21.
Spahn said there were no plans to delay access to the second jab. He said the German government would follow scientific advice that the greatest protection would be provided if the gap between the first and second doses were between three and six weeks.
With the initial focus on the most vulnerable, he said he did not want to risk a situation in which a mutation could escape, leaving the elderly especially exposed to the infection.
“The clear recommendation of our vaccination committee was and remains that the time lag between the first and second dose should be between three and a maximum of six weeks … Scientists have explained to us that the risk of waiting may mean that no there is adequate protection against more virulent mutations. Given this, we stick to the original time plan. ”