(Frankfurt) More than 100,000 dead and a record of infections in 24 hours: Germany is facing its most violent wave of contamination by the coronavirus, putting in difficulty the new government which is about to take office.
More than 100,000 people, 100,119 to be exact, have died from COVID-19 in Germany since the start of the pandemic, the health authority (RKI) announced on Thursday, which has recorded 351 deaths in the last 24 hours.
“It is a very sad day,” commented outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In one day, the RKI also identified 75,961 new contaminations, a new high, at a time when the largest European economy fears a saturation of hospitals.
The seven-day incidence also reached a record high at 419.7. In Saxony, in the former GDR, it exceeded the threshold of 1000.
The situation is already weakening the new government coalition associating Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals which will take the head of the country in December.
“Every day counts”, warned Thursday Mme Merkel who wants an additional turn of the screw and has let her successor Olaf Scholz know.
“I made it clear to her that we could manage this together, during this transition phase, and that we would look at all the necessary measures,” said the leader.
Ten days
At this point, the German regions are in control and most of them have reinstated strict restrictions. In most of the country, the unvaccinated can no longer access, even with a negative test, shows, restaurants, gyms, or even hairdressers.
Some districts have resolved to close clubs, bars and cultural establishments for a few weeks.
Almost 69% of the German population is fully vaccinated, less than in other European countries, such as France, where the rate reaches 75%.
“The situation is serious,” admitted Wednesday Olaf Scholz, future Social Democratic leader of the government, promising to “do everything” in the face of the pandemic.
Faculty president Heinz-Peter Meidinger has warned of a runaway infection in schools, as children under 12 do not yet have access to the vaccine in the country. “The loss of control is already there, while some schools have to close because of outbreaks of infections,” he lamented, in an interview with Passauer neue Press.
The new coalition, however, appears to immediately exclude nationwide containment and is attracting criticism of its alleged inaction.
“Instead of fighting the coronavirus in a determined way, the future government presents sissy decisions and calls for reduced contact. Do we seriously want to defeat the pandemic? », Asks the daily Süddeutesche Zeitung Thursday.
According to environmentalist Annalena Baerbock, who is expected to inherit the Foreign Ministry in the next executive, the new team in power could harden its response to the virus.
“We are leaving ten days to see if we have gone far enough with the protective measures,” she said Wednesday evening on public television ARD.
Patient transfer
The healthcare sector in Germany has sounded the alarm over the saturation of some hospitals in the worst-affected regions of the south and east, as the country faces a shortage of caregivers which is reducing the number beds available in intensive care.
Some establishments are facing “an acute overload” which has necessitated the transfer of patients abroad, has also indicated Gernot Marx, who heads the German association of intensive care medicine.
The health crisis has provoked a debate on the relevance of introducing compulsory vaccination for all, as Austria has just decided.
The new government has agreed with the heads of regions, responsible for health matters, to study this option, which is already valid for Bundeswehr soldiers and, soon, for the staff of healthcare establishments.
But the calls to go further are multiplying.
Bayern star Joshua Kimmich’s infection, who had expressed reservations about the vaccine, is highly symbolic, judge Der Spiegel : “Anyone who does not get vaccinated will end up catching COVID-19”.