The sickness rate among those insured with DAK fell sharply in the first half of 2021.

According to a study by the health insurance company, employees had an average of 6.7 days of absence per head from January to June.

That is 22 percent less than in the same period last year, as the DAK announced on Thursday in Hamburg.

Absences due to respiratory illnesses in particular have fallen sharply, while mental illnesses have increased.

Overall, the sickness rate among DAK-insured employees fell to 3.7 percent.

By the end of June 2021, there were only 48 days of absence due to respiratory diseases for every 100 employees with DAK insurance, around 92 days fewer than in the same period of the previous year.

The DAK sees distance and hygiene measures during the pandemic as the main reason for the massive decline.

"The mask is as simple as it is effective in the fight against pathogens," said DAK CEO Andreas Storm.

Back ailments and skeletal problems as the main causes

Most of the days absent were due to back problems and other musculoskeletal problems in the first half of the year.

A quarter of the loss of work was justified by it.

One fifth was caused by mental illness.

With around 133 absent days per 100 insured persons, they reached a new high.

"The pandemic with all its side effects has had an intensifying effect on mental illnesses," said Storm: "We can hardly estimate what we will face as a result of the lockdown times today." who have increasingly practiced home office.

Professions in law and administration had an average of 24 percent fewer days off than in the same period of the previous year.

In professions with frequent direct contact with people, for example in daycare centers or hospitals, the decline was lower: daycare workers had a minus of 9 percent on average, hospital staff 8 percent.

The smallest decrease of only 5 percent was recorded by elderly care workers.

In the first half of the year, they had an average of 9.8 days of absence per head, around half a day less than in 2020.

Sickness rates higher in the east than in the west

In the eastern federal states, the sickness rate of 4.7 percent was also higher in the Corona year than in the west of 3.6 percent.

A third of employees in the east had at least one sick leave in the first half of 2021, in the west only a quarter.

Sick leave is required by law if employees are absent from work for more than three days due to illness.

For the DAK study, the Berlin IGES Institute evaluated data from more than 2.3 million employees.