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Braunschweig / Berlin (dpa) - The new requirements for possible corona easing meet with an expert's approval.
In view of the risks posed by mutated viruses, stricter rules should also remain enforceable regionally, said Berit Lange, epidemiologist at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, the German Press Agency.
"Of course you had to extend the lockdown, we couldn't avoid that," she said on Thursday.
The orientation towards a seven-day incidence of 35 instead of the previous 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, they consider "not a bad idea".
However, a precise step-by-step plan must also be "declined upwards" - "if, even within the current lockdown, tightening of higher values should become necessary again".
If the numbers rise again, politics must be able to counteract with new restrictions, emphasized Lange.
This is important in order not to jeopardize the overall progress made - especially with a view to more infectious variants of the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen.
"We need gradations in both directions," said the doctor after the federal-state resolutions from the previous evening.
“If the new virus variants increase significantly, this will only be seen in the national data with a certain delay.
The question then is: how much can I mitigate the development? "
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The prospect of relaxation should not lead to people prematurely feeling safe.
This applies above all to the possible appearance of new hotspots, should variant B.1.1.7, which was initially discovered in Great Britain, become more widespread in this country.
"In order to break an increasing dynamic, you need a clear regional strategy now," warned Lange.
“Additional restrictions should be possible in individual counties.
At the level of the federal states, this is apparently difficult to implement for political reasons - at the regional level it might look different for a short period of time, ”she said.
In the case of increasing incidences, one has to react more intensely.
"The argument" We are already in lockdown "can then no longer apply."
Lange showed understanding for the urgent need to reopen primary schools.
"But we should also be careful here and keep a close eye on the sequence and time intervals to openings in other areas," she emphasized.
The opening of schools, for example, should not give people the impression that the situation is already safer in other areas.
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Rapid tests for teachers and daycare staff are welcome - but not only there.
“You should actually have continuous testing in every area that you want to open,” said Lange.
«That should be part of the opening strategy.
It's already done that way in hospitals or some large companies. "
The epidemiologist was more skeptical about the question of whether earlier vaccinations should be sought in schools and childcare facilities.
"The primary goal of the vaccination strategy, as it has been designed so far, is to reduce the number of deaths," said Lange.
«So old people at high risk and those who are in daily contact with them have priority.
The vaccination strategy was made according to this criterion - not so much according to the question of which areas we want to keep open or which we want to reopen soon. "
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210211-99-397327 / 3