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German Health Minister Jens Spahn called for caution on Sunday in the face of an increase in the number of coronavirus infections as schools across the country are preparing to reopen.
“The virus is not making things easier for us,” Spahn told German broadcaster ARD.
“We are seeing that the numbers are going up again. This is irritating and brings some uncertainty. That is why caution, testing and vaccination should continue to guide our way.”
Germany has been in partial blockade since November and has managed to reduce the infection rate in recent weeks.
But the numbers have begun to stagnate and even increase slightly in recent days, a trend attributed to the rapid spread of the most contagious British strain of the virus.
Experts are warning that Germany may be at the start of a third wave of coronavirus, even as the country’s 16 states are beginning to loosen some of its restrictions.
As of Monday, schools and day care centers are expected to reopen in 10 German regions.
Many schools plan to limit class sizes along with other precautions, such as wearing masks and airing classrooms, but critics question whether the timing is right for reopening.
Spahn said a balance needs to be struck between protecting Germans from the risks posed by new strains of more infectious viruses and the need for children to have some kind of “normal daily life”.
The impact of the school reopening would be closely monitored before deciding on the next steps in the pandemic, he added.
“As soon as schools and day care centers are reopened, millions of people will be out and about. We need to see what difference it makes in relation to mutations, ”said Spahn.
“We cannot make false promises” about further relaxation, he added.
Spahn and Germany’s 16 regional health ministers on Monday will discuss moving teachers and caregivers of children into priority positions on the priority vaccine list.
If approved, they would move from group 3 to group 2, making them next in line, since Germany vaccinated most of its elderly people living in nursing homes.
Germany added another 7,676 cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total since the pandemic began to more than 2.3 million.
More than 67,000 people died of the virus, according to the Robert Koch Institute for disease control.
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© 2021 AFP
Quote: Germany calls for ‘caution’ as COVID infections increase again (2021, February 21), recovered on February 21, 2021 at https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-germany-urges-caution- covid-infections.html
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