Robert Koch Institute warns of worldwide spread
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the novel coronavirus Covid-19 could spread internationally. "Global development suggests that the virus could spread worldwide in the sense of a pandemic," says a report that the Berlin Institute published on the Internet on Wednesday. Countries with limited resources in the health system are particularly affected. "But even in countries like Germany, this could lead to a high burden on medical care," it said.
The experts also write that a meeting with an infected person is currently very unlikely for people in Germany. However, the assessment can change at any time. The situation is developing very dynamically and must be taken seriously.
A strategy of containment is currently recommended, the RKI explained. Attempts are made to identify infected people as early as possible. As a precaution, their contact persons should spend 14 days in quarantine. Even if not all sufferers and their contacts were found in time, these steps would slow the spread of the pathogen in the population, it said.
"A wave of diseases in Germany should be delayed and its dynamics weakened." The aim is to save time - for example for preparations and to learn more about the virus. It is therefore to be avoided as far as possible that a Covid-19 and the flu wave that is currently also running in Germany coincide. This is feared to lead to “maximum stress” on medical care.
The RKI also refers to many outstanding questions. The effects of a possible spread on the population in this country depended on various factors that are currently not yet assessable
