The seven-day incidence in Germany continues to rise.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week on Friday morning as 68.7.

For comparison: the previous day the value was 67.0, a week ago it was 63.8.

The health authorities in Germany reported 11,518 new corona infections to the RKI within one day.

This is evident from the numbers that reflect the status of the RKI dashboard at 4:21 am.

A week ago, the value was 10,429 infections.

According to the new information, 65 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours.

A week ago there were 86 deaths.

The RKI has counted 4,354,158 detected infections with Sars-CoV-2 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections are not detected.

The number of corona patients admitted to clinics per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days - the most important parameter for a possible tightening of the corona restrictions - was given by the RKI on Thursday at 1.93 (Wednesday 1.90).

A nationwide threshold value from when the situation can be viewed critically is not provided for the incidence of hospitalization, among other things because of large regional differences.

The previous high was around 15.5 around Christmas time.

The RKI stated the number of those who had recovered at 4,134,100.

The number of people who died with or with a proven infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 94,526

In individual regions of Germany, the RKI registered a particularly high number of corona infections among children and adolescents.

In eight districts, the seven-day incidence is currently more than 500 among 10 to 19-year-olds, the RKI tweeted on Thursday evening for an evaluation in the new Corona weekly report.

More detailed information on the districts and their respective numbers were not given, but on a map, the districts were colored accordingly.

The RKI also gave no information on possible backgrounds for the regionally high numbers.

Nationwide, the seven-day incidence last week in the age groups under 20 years, however, decreased slightly compared to the week before, it was said in summary.

In contrast, the values ​​for people over 20 increased slightly.

The RKI also spoke of 636 school breakouts transmitted nationwide for the past four weeks - due to possible late registrations, however, the past two weeks in particular cannot yet be assessed.

Doctors expect vaccine for under twelve year olds

For some time now, numerous corona infections have been found, especially in children from school age and in adolescents. The virus is tested regularly at daycare centers and schools. The Covid-19 vaccines have so far been approved for ages 12 and up. The vaccination rate for 12 to 17 year olds is much lower than for adults. Children and adolescents are significantly less likely to get seriously ill with Covid-19 than older people, but there are still unanswered questions about long-term consequences.

In the groups over 70 years of age for which the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) now recommends a booster vaccination, the increase in incidence is largely slight, according to the report. It is larger, especially among the very old over 90 years - the value rose from 39 to 48 from the week before last to last week. In older age, the immune response after vaccinations is generally lower and vaccination breakthroughs could more often lead to a more severe course, according to the Stiko justification for the booster vaccinations.

Overall, the RKI currently rates the situation in terms of the number of infections as stagnating. The developments in the individual federal states differ. In a comparison of the past two weeks, Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Saarland recorded significant increases, according to the weekly report.

German pediatricians expect a corona vaccine for children under the age of 12 in the near future. This is what Jörg Dötsch, director of the children's clinic at the University Clinic in Cologne and President of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Medicine, told the Düsseldorf newspaper Rheinische Post. "We expect the vaccine to be approved for children under 12 this year," said Dötsch. However, Dötsch doubted that the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) would immediately make an unreserved recommendation. "It is likely that after approval, the Stiko will make a restricted recommendation for risk groups, for example children with severe chronic diseases," said Dötsch.

If it came to approval in Germany and even a limited Stiko recommendation, pediatrician Dötsch would welcome this.

"This would be a very good and important improvement for the affected children and their families," he said.

"In our estimation, it is also likely that Stiko will wait with a recommendation for all children and adolescents until more extensive data are available on the side effects in the age group." The background is the relatively mild course of Covid-19 in those under 12 years of age.