BFor the first time in about 11 months, the incidence of corona fell below 5 for the first time.This Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave a nationwide value at 4.9 on Saturday morning. It was 5.0 the day before and 5.9 the week before. Recently, on July 30, 2020, this value was 4.8 below the 5 threshold.
German health authorities also reported 671 cases of new crown infections in one day. As can be seen from the numbers in the morning, this reflects the status of the RKI dashboard starting at 5:01 in the morning. For comparison: 592 infections were registered a week ago.
Based on this information, Germany recorded 16 deaths within 24 hours. 68 people died a week ago. Since the beginning of the pandemic, RKI has counted 3,730,353 detected Sars-CoV-2 infections. Since many infections have not been detected, the actual total may be much higher.
RKI stated that the number of people who have recovered is approximately 3,627,800. The number of people who died or was confirmed to be infected with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 91,023.
General practitioner criticizes Stiko’s communication with AstraZeneca
At the same time, general practitioners in Germany complained that the new recommendations for cross vaccination with AstraZeneca put forward by the Permanent Vaccination Committee (Stiko) posed huge challenges for them. “Patients feel insecure and ask them what kind of vaccine they will get when they receive the second vaccine now, and hope to make an appointment accordingly. Of course, for them — especially considering the upcoming summer vacation — do they have to wait? It takes 9 to 12 weeks to get the second vaccination, or it only needs to wait 4 weeks, which makes a big difference,” said Ulrich, Federal President of the German Association of General Practitioners, Weigeldt, German Editor Network. The proposed adjustments caused “huge extra effort” in many practices on the first day.
The Vaccination Committee unexpectedly announced on Thursday that people who received the first dose of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine should receive an mRNA vaccine like Biontech or Moderna as a second syringe in the future, regardless of age.
Weigeldt said, of course, it is a scientific task to adjust recommendations based on the current level of knowledge. “But this is not against clear communication and early participation by those who ultimately implement the recommendations. If we waver, the entire vaccination campaign will also waver.”