"In Germany we are in a difficult phase, marked by positive and negative aspects. The number of infections from Covid is still on the rise. The situation is not yet really under control".
This was stated by the German health minister, Karl Lauterbach, at a press conference in Berlin. The upside is that the omicron wave has developed better than expected, he explained. But according to the minister "one cannot be satisfied with the hospitalization rates".
"We have 100 to 150 victims a day, and that is too many", he added, stressing that "this is not the time when we can allow the large openings we are talking about".
The peak of the wave will come in mid-February, Lauterbach concluded, and with the effect of BA.2, the sub-variant also known as Omicron 2, this could change a little, and even come a little later.
THE SUBVARIANT - Omicron's BA.2 is now making headlines, but it's nothing new: genomic surveillance scientists have known it since early December, since Omicron officially started its run around the world. Initially, the spread of this strain, which differs from the original Omicron BA.1 by about 40 mutations, was so limited that BA.2 seemed destined to disappear. But now the sub-variant is booming in Europe and Asia, and it seems determined to outweigh its "sister".
(Unioneonline / vl)
