The government said “Germany is in a critical situation.”

According to the German Minister of Health, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from behind. ‘Germany is in trouble’Karl Lauterbach said, Friday, March 11, during a press conference. “I have often read that the Omicron variant is a less virulent variant. This is only partially true”He warned, noting that 249 people died on Thursday due to COVID-19.

The minister especially cautioned against any leniency. Objectively speaking, the situation is much worse than the general atmosphere.lamented Karl Lauterbach, noting that “The state of mind of the population and part of the political landscape is that we would have brought the epidemic under control”. “We cannot be satisfied with a situation where 200 to 250 people die every day”with the risk that the balance sheet will worsen in the coming weeks, he said.

Germany, which plans to ease a number of restrictions from March 20, recorded more than 250,000 new cases of the Covid-19 virus on Friday, and the seven-day infection rate exceeded 1,400. “The number of cases and incidence is increasing again (…). In many areas, the infection rate is still above 2,000 or even 2,500”, Lothar Wheeler, director of the Robert Koch Institute for Health Monitoring, added.

The situation is deteriorating in particular due to the prevalence of the particularly infectious BA.2 sub variant, which currently accounts for about 38% of new infections in Germany, Lothar Wheeler. Despite current restrictions and mandatory mask wearing, “Without compulsory universal vaccination, we will not be able to control the epidemic in the fall”Karl Lauterbach confirmed.