Germany‘s first coronavirus data for 2022 showed the third straight day of rising case counts – with researchers saying the numbers are probably undercounts – undercutting the health minister’s saying he’d seen a “light at the end of the tunnel.”
Saturday’s data showed about 220.3 new infections per 100,000 residents in the last week, down from highs seen a month ago, but still far higher than numbers seen just a few months ago. And health researchers said the numbers are likely to be much higher, given undercounting between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
It’s also an open question as to when the counts of the newest coronavirus variant, Omicron, will peak and how heavily that will weigh on the health care system. The Robert Koch Institute, the country’s infectious diseases agency, reported 26,392 new overall coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours and 184 new deaths.
That said, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach joined in with other leading virologists in the country saying that initial research is pointing to Omicron being more infectious, but also less deadly, providing some hope that the next few months will not be so crushing for the country’s health care sector.
But they cautioned the problem would be even easier to manage if the country’s vaccination rates were better. He noted that things could get “really dangerous” for the unvaccinated if Omicron case counts double every four days, as feared.
The latest data shows 71.2 per cent of the population has received a full vaccination, which often means two jabs a particular vaccine. At least 38.7 per cent have also received a booster shot.
In his comments, Lauterbach said there is a possibility that Omicron could pave the way for the coronavirus to become endemic in Germany, which would mean people might still get infected and even die, but that case counts would be unlikely to rise to levels that would overwhelm the health care system.
“But we still don’t know for sure, because we don’t know how dangerous the Omicron variant is for those who are completely unvaccinated.”
About a quarter of Germany’s population – 25.8 per cent – remains completely unvaccinated.
The new numbers come as Germany implemented health-related travel warnings for Canada, Italy, Malta and San Marino due to the coronavirus’ spread.
