The nationwide seven-day incidence of new corona infections has fallen again.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the value was 1278.9 on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday it was 1306.8, on Wednesday a week ago it was 1401.0.
The value quantifies the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over a period of seven days.
As the RKI announced, citing data from the health authorities, the number of new infections recorded within 24 hours on Wednesday morning was 209,052, after 125,902 the day before and 219,972 a week ago.
The total number of registered cases of infection in Germany since the beginning of the corona pandemic has thus increased to 13,762,895.
In addition, according to the RKI, 299 new deaths related to the corona virus were recorded within 24 hours.
The total number of corona deaths recorded in Germany rose to 121,902.
The RKI put the number of people who have recovered from corona disease in Germany at around 10,234,100 since the beginning of the pandemic.
In November, the federal and state governments had defined the so-called hospitalization incidence as the decisive benchmark for tightening or relaxing the corona measures.
This value indicates how many people per 100,000 inhabitants are hospitalized within seven days because of a corona infection.
According to the latest RKI information, the hospitalization incidence nationwide on Tuesday was 6.21.
A week earlier it had been 5.90.
Facilitation for those returning from vacation
There should be some relief in the Corona rules for those returning from vacation – especially for families with children.
This provides for changes to the entry regulation by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), which the Federal Cabinet is to deal with on Wednesday.
For example, countries should only be classified as high-risk areas with more extensive requirements when returning to Germany if virus variants with “more pathogenic properties” are rampant there than the omicron variant that dominates in this country.
The new regulations should take effect from March 4th.
It should be possible for children under the age of 12 to test themselves directly from an otherwise pending quarantine after returning from high-risk areas.
So far, the general rule has been: Anyone who comes from such areas and has not been fully vaccinated or recovered must be in quarantine for ten days and can only get out of it five days after entry with a negative test at the earliest.
For children under the age of 6, the isolation has so far ended automatically five days after entry - but without the opportunity to test themselves earlier if they have no proof that they have recovered or been vaccinated.
The first Novavax doses should arrive on Wednesday
To justify the facilitation for children, the Ministry also points out that the Standing Vaccination Commission has not yet issued any general vaccination recommendations for children under the age of 12.
In general, the 3G rule continues to apply to entries from all countries – those who have not been vaccinated or have recovered must have a negative test.
The first doses of Novavax's new corona vaccine could also arrive in Germany on Wednesday.
The first delivery is expected to be 1.4 million doses by the end of the week, according to earlier figures from the Health Ministry.
They should be distributed immediately to the countries so that vaccinations can start in the coming week.
It is hoped that Novavax could be an alternative for some who have not vaccinated with previous mRNA vaccines from Biontech and Moderna.
The Novavax vaccine is based on a more classic process.
With Novavax, three vaccinations are also necessary
According to immunologists, anyone who is vaccinated with Novavax will also need a triple vaccination for full vaccination protection.
"Novavax also has to be refreshed (...) three to six months after the second vaccination," said the Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, Carsten Watzl, of the "Augsburger Allgemeine" (Wednesday).
According to the report, Novavax has not yet been approved for booster vaccinations by the European Medicines Agency EMA.
As a spokeswoman for the American vaccine manufacturer explained to the newspaper, Novavax is already conducting relevant studies and intends to apply for booster approval this year.
"You can also use Novavax for the booster, even those who have previously received an mRNA vaccination," said Watzl.
Like the other vaccines, Novavax was originally developed using the original virus, so it is not specifically adapted to the omicron variant.