“The summer wave is a reality,” Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told a news conference. Not panic but vigilance and mask in anticipation of autumn with increased cases
Ukraine and energy may monopolize the political agenda in Germany, however the German Minister of Health Karl draws the attention of the Germans to the so-called “Summer wave” of the pandemic. The Sommerwel “It is now a reality,” German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Lars Saade, vice-president of the Robert Koch Epidemiological Institute, said in a press conference in Berlin a few hours ago.
The German minister stressed that there is no need to panic, given that the new mutations of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, show mild symptoms, but are nevertheless super-contagious. This is partly due to the new rise in coronavirus cases in Germany. And yesterday, due to a holiday in many German states, the number of cases rose to around 28,000, but the Robert Koch Institute predicts an increase in cases in the near future.
According to Lars Saade, the new growth trend is due to the lifting of restrictive measures to deal with the pandemic. Both Lauterbach and Saade advise the Germans to continue wearing a mask – the use of which is no longer mandatory – indoors public transport and events, especially if they belong to vulnerable groups.
The use of a mask is considered an effective measure to prevent the transmission of the coronavirus, while now the estimates of experts argue that protection against vaccines is crucial to avoid serious complications of the disease, but do not make an infection impossible.
New pandemic management plan for autumn
In order to avoid a recurrence of last year’s difficult autumn and winter, the German Ministry of Health announced that it is already working on a pandemic management plan for the coming months. In fact, at present in Germany the sub-mutation BA.5 is dominant, according to Robert Koch.
As Karl Lauterbach also mentioned, the vaccination campaign will continue in the coming months. In fact, he expects that from September the available vaccines will have been adapted to the new mutations from the pharmaceutical companies. In fact, it is planned to have three vaccines available, which will be able to meet the needs of each group in the best possible way. He clarified, however, that no new campaign in favor of compulsory vaccination is expected – which he failed to open in the German parliament – however, the ministry’s priority is “to fill the gaps that exist in the vaccination system”.
The German Ministry of Health also supports the continuation of coronavirus tests at specialized points of their conduct, seeking a plan for their financing. Finally, according to the Minister of Health, a more targeted use of anti-coronavirus drugs is expected, which are currently used at low levels.
