"Worrying trend": These hotspots are driving the corona numbers up

FOCUS Online / Wochit Second wave on the march? Real-time map shows the spread of corona in Germany

FOCUS online editor Ulf Lüdeke

Thursday, August 13th, 2020, 12:16 pm

In Germany, the daily new corona infections have reached a high since May. The Robert Koch Institute speaks of a "worrying trend". A further worsening of the situation must be avoided at all costs. Several hotspots are driving the corona numbers up.

The proportion of circles in Germany that have not transmitted any new infections has decreased significantly in recent weeks. “This trend is worrying,” states the Robert Koch Institute in its current situation report. "A further worsening of the situation must be avoided at all costs."

Only from 41 districts have no new corona cases been reported in the past seven days. Two months ago in mid-June, however, there were still 143 counties that did not show any new cases in their 7-day balance. It is therefore noticeable that there is no longer one central focus, but the virus is spreading more over the surface again.

Five district hotspots with more than 25 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants
North Rhine-Westphalia - and thus the most populous federal state - is currently particularly hard hit by the increase. There an increase of 413 cases was registered on Wednesday alone, which corresponds to almost a quarter of all new infections nationwide with 1445 new infections. In relation to the past seven days, the state reported 2,374 new cases, which corresponds to a proportion of 13.2 infections per 100,000 inhabitants - the highest value nationwide. In the meantime there is no longer a single district in North Rhine-Westphalia that is considered "corona-free".

The list of hotspots at the district level is currently headed by Dingolfing-Landau. There are two clusters in a farm and a canning factory, where 500 people have so far been infected with the coronavirus. The districts of Ludwigshafen, Hagen, Duisburg and Berlin-Mitte are among the other top 5 hotspots with a 7-day incidence of more than 25 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Berlin-Mitte suddenly became a hotspot
The two city-states Hamburg and Berlin are currently recording a sharp increase in the number of infections and are well above the national average in the RKI statistics. There the numbers in the past seven days are 12.1 (Hamburg) and 10.9 cases (Berlin) per 100,000 inhabitants. With 9.3 cases, the numbers in Hesse are also skyrocketing.

Especially interesting is the view of Berlin-Mitte with a currently high value of 28.1 cases in the last seven days per 100,000 inhabitants. In the RKI comparison, the district is in second place nationwide - behind the Bavarian hotspot Dingolfing-Landau. On the third day after the summer vacation, corona infections were already known in eight Berlin schools. Most recently, corona rule violations in Berlin bars had caused a stir in Berlin. Specifically, there were, among other things, problems with contact tracking after a series of infections among guests at a bar in the Mitte district.

Returners from Turkey and the Balkans in the sights of the RKI
The RKI now primarily blames return travelers for the sharp increase in new infections. The focus is particularly on holidaymakers who have been to areas that are fully or at least partially classified as corona risk areas - such as many Balkan countries and Turkey.

In the Duisburg districts of Bruckhausen and Marxloh, the proportion of foreigners is over 50 percent. The majority are people of Turkish origin who, like many families with roots in the Balkans, traditionally go to their relatives in their old homeland for several weeks during the summer holidays.

A demand in Duisburg confirms this RKI trend, at least in the Ruhr metropolis, but only in parts. According to the city, the increased number of infections can initially be attributed primarily to an outbreak at a company, various family celebrations and the positive cases in a meat processing company in the neighboring city, said a city spokesman at the request of FOCUS Online. "In the end, however, the cases were spread out rather broadly, the accumulation varies from week to week, there are no clear clusters or area hotspots to be identified."

Of the 5317 return travelers who have had their tests in Duisburg since the start of their holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia, 83 have so far tested positive, coming from Turkey, Bosnia and Serbia, among others.

Unreported number of returnees
However, it is completely unclear how high the number of unreported cases is. It is true that returnees from risk areas are obliged to report back to the city - under threat of a fine of up to 25,000 euros in the event of a breach of this reporting requirement. "The reporting requirement can only be controlled to a very limited extent, however, as we have no information about who is traveling. Ultimately, one can only appeal to the common sense of the people to report after the trip and thus protect oneself and those around them," he said Speaker. Surf tip: You can find all the news about the corona pandemic in the news ticker from FOCUS Online

The number of known new infections with the corona virus in Germany has risen to the highest level since the beginning of May. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the health authorities in Germany reported 1445 new corona infections within one day by Wednesday evening. The value was last higher on May 1 with 1639 new infections registered.