Berlin (Reuters) – A few days before the planned relaxation of the Infection Protection Act, the corona numbers continue to rise significantly.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 198,888 new infections within 24 hours on Tuesday. That’s a good 42,000 cases more than on Tuesday a week ago. Overall, the number of confirmed infections in Germany is more than 17.4 million. The nationwide seven-day incidence rose to 1585.4 from 1543.0 the previous day, marking another high. The value indicates how many people become infected with the virus within a week per 100,000 inhabitants. 283 other people died in connection with the virus. This brings the number of reported deaths to 125,873. The number of intensive care patients with the virus in hospitals rose to 2226 on Monday.
This week, the SPD, Greens and FDP want to pass a slimmed-down infection protection law that is intended to significantly reduce the corona measures in the federal states. The rules of the previous Infection Protection Act expire on Saturday. Without new regulations, protective measures would no longer be possible. The traffic light government of the SPD, Greens and FDP justifies the reduction of measures such as contact restrictions that, despite the increasing number of cases, there is no longer a risk of the health system being overburdened. The reason is that the course of the disease is often milder in the currently predominant omicron virus variant. Limited protective measures should continue to be possible in so-called hotspots with high numbers of infections.
There is a debate within the traffic light coalition about sticking to the obligation to wear masks in lanes and indoor areas. There are also calls from the federal states to improve the draft law presented by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP).