Germany must prepare for a “massive wave” of omicron variant

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach warned this Friday that Germany must prepare for a new “massive wave” caused by the rapid spread of the omicron variant of coronavirus. The country is hit hard by a significant increase in infections from the COVID-19.

“We must prepare for a challenge in a form that we have not yet known; even a smoother course (of the disease, ndlr) will not make a big difference”Declared the minister at a press conference in Hanover.

The degree of danger of this new variant remains difficult to assess, despite the fact that the infections appear less serious, the senior official indicated.

This “it would perhaps keep the number of deaths at a low level for two or three weeks, but the increase in the number of cases may offset this advantage“, Highlighted the minister who judged it to be”inevitable”The arrival of a difficult period.

Germany faces a virulent rise in infections from the delta variant. The number of cases eased slightly after the introduction of numerous restrictions, but the level of infections remains high.

The number of new cases in 24 hours surpassed 50,000 on Friday, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

Because this indicator does not decline fast enough, and taking into account the high burden of cases ending up in intensive care units and the arrival of the omicron variant, the RKI warned that “current developments are still very worrying.”

This institute advocated maintaining and even tightening the restrictions.

In Germany the percentage of people with a complete vaccination scheme this week reached the level of 70% of the total population.