The Robert Koch Institute has recognized a downward trend in the Corona summer wave, but is still not giving the all-clear.

The nationwide seven-day incidence fell significantly by a total of 21 percent last week compared to the previous week, according to the institute's weekly report on Covid-19 on Thursday evening.

The incidences have fallen in a weekly comparison in all federal states and age groups.

However, the general infection pressure remains high, the authors warn.

"The associated burden on the healthcare system also remains high, even if the operational situation has improved slightly in the past week."

The values ​​​​for acute respiratory diseases in the general population, such as the number of doctor visits, have fallen compared to those in the previous week - but are still higher than in previous years at this time, the RKI experts point out.

In addition, outbreaks in nursing homes continued to increase.

When it comes to deaths related to the virus, the RKI recently spoke of a fairly stable level – with 444 deaths reported in the last week.

With a view to the coming weeks, the institute expects a “continued high number of hospitalizations, Covid 19 patients requiring intensive care and deaths, especially in older age groups”.

The omicron subline BA.5 has increased somewhat at a high level and, according to the latest available data, has been found in more than 92 percent of the positive samples.

The RKI also calls for “absolutely” complying with the recommendations for avoiding infection.

Millions of people continue to need vaccinations

In view of the corona pandemic, the Robert Koch Institute still sees a need for millions of people to be vaccinated - although slightly more vaccinations were administered in July than in the previous month.

The booster vaccination continues to protect very effectively against severe courses, even in Omicron times, which is why, in addition to starting vaccination for the unvaccinated, vaccination gaps must also be closed for those who have only had basic immunization so far, as an RKI team said in the new monthly report on Covid 19 vaccinations on Thursday writes.

According to the experts, around 1.3 million people over the age of 60 and around 7.8 million people under the age of 60 who are only basic immunized would have to refresh their vaccination protection with at least one vaccination.

Around 7.3 million adults under the age of 60 and 1.9 million over the age of 60 would not have received a vaccination at all. Little has changed here compared to the previous month.

Specifically, according to current monitoring as of the beginning of August, a good 85 percent of the adult population is basic immunized, a good 72 percent have received a first booster vaccination, almost 10 percent a second.