In the corona pandemic in Germany, the omicron subline BA.5 is now predominant.

In its weekly report on Covid-19 on Thursday evening, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) speaks of a share of around 50 percent.

However, this data refers to the week before last.

Higher values ​​can currently be assumed.

The RKI also recorded a further increase in the seven-day incidence of 23 percent and a slightly increasing burden on the health care system.

This applies in particular to intensive care medicine, it said.

The age group of 70 to 79 year olds is particularly affected by the infections at 32 percent.

The report goes on to say: "The number of outbreaks in old people's and nursing homes and in medical treatment facilities has increased compared to the previous week."

As can be seen from the Divi intensive care register, the number of people infected with corona treated there has been increasing again for a few days: after a good 600 patients at the beginning of the month, it was 810 as of Thursday. However, the number of newly hospitalized patients with severe infections remains low Level.

Fully vaccinated would still have a very low risk of severe Covid 19 disease.

According to the RKI report, the variant BA.5 had had a share of 32 percent the week before.

"The shares of the sub-lines BA.2.12.1 and BA.4 each increased to six percent," write the experts.

In view of the rising incidences due to the more widespread use of BA.4 and BA.5, the RKI continues to call for compliance with the recommendations for avoiding infection.

Not every positive sample is examined for the sub-lines, only a random sample.

Drosten: From September we will have very high case numbers

The virologist Christian Drosten expects a very high number of new corona cases after the summer holidays in Germany.

“I hope that the school holidays will slow down the increase in the number of cases.

But from September, I'm afraid we will have very high case numbers," said the head of the virology department at the Berlin Charité to the news magazine "Der Spiegel" in an interview published on Thursday evening.

If nothing is done, there will be “a great many absences due to illness” in working life.

"We are actually seeing an exponential increase in the number of cases again," warned Drosten.

"The BA.5 variant is just very transmissible, and people lose their transmission protection from the last vaccination at the same time."

In other countries you can see that with very high case numbers, the number of hospitalizations and deaths rose again.

“Unfortunately, that will be the case for us too.

Overall, however, far fewer people will become seriously ill and die than in 2021. ”He does not believe that by the end of the year one will have the impression that the pandemic is over, said the corona expert.

In January, Drosten had expressed the hope that Germany could declare the pandemic over in the course of the year.

The virologist recommended avoiding infection as much as possible – also because of the risk of Long Covid.

“Unfortunately, an infection is inevitable in the long term.

And little by little, a mucous membrane-specific protection is actually forming, which I assume makes the overall population immunity more resilient.” On the other hand, the virus is also evolving.

"I assume that at some point a new equilibrium will settle in: the population's immunity from vaccinations and infections will eventually be so strong that the virus will become less important.

Then we are in an endemic state.” In the worst case, however, this could “take a few more winters”.