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The President of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler, warns of the consequences of the spread of the virus mutation B.1.1.7.
It is foreseeable that this British variant of the corona virus will soon be the predominant one in Germany, says Wieler.
"And then it will be even more difficult to keep the virus in check." The variant is more contagious and dangerous - in all age groups.
The latest numbers are also positive: The incidence in the age group over 80 years is falling because of the vaccinations.
The number of intensive care patients and deaths is also falling.
But there are still too many deaths.
And the incidence among those under 80 is rising again, says Wieler.
On Wednesday, the RKI stated that the proportion of B.1.1.7 in Germany is already 46 percent.
At the beginning of the survey, around a month ago, the RKI had put the proportion of mutants at six percent, two weeks later it was 22 percent.
Estimates that about half of the cases now go back to B.1.1.7 were already known on Tuesday.
Spahn offers itself as a "contact exchange"
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Health Minister Jens Spahn has emphasized that there are already enough rapid corona tests on the market for increased testing.
Manufacturers have assured that millions of tests are in stock, said the CDU politician on Friday in the federal press conference.
He is confident that the countries will implement the offer of one free test per week from next week.
Manufacturers have assured that enough self-rapid tests will also be available from next week.
The Minister of Health also said that with around 20 million self-tests per week, there are enough tests to check every student in Germany for an infection with the coronavirus once a week.
Spahn also wants to help the health ministers of the federal states with contacts to the manufacturers.
"I also offer myself as a contact exchange," said Spahn.
“I will offer every prime minister the opportunity to set up a contact.
But then I don't want to read: Why did the minister talk on the phone?
Several CDU politicians are under pressure because they are said to have earned money from arranging mask orders in spring 2020.
The role of Jens Spahn is also still unclear.
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Spahn repeated his announcement that he wanted to offer all citizens a quick test at least once a week from Monday.
The start on site could be delayed, however, because the federal states and municipalities are responsible for the implementation, for example in the existing test centers or in pharmacies.
Spahn does not expect any problems with the provision by the federal government.
“We are world champions in logistics,” says the CDU politician.
“That will be able to work in quickly.” The federal government has currently secured at least 50 million rapid tests per month, ten million would be accessed.
Spahn pointed out the balancing act that politics currently have to perform.
With a view to health protection, the loosening that has now been decided "went to the limits of what ... is responsible," says Spahn.
On the other hand, it would not have been justifiable, after months of lockdown, not to decide on any opening steps.
No data on the migration background of Covid patients
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After a query, Wieler and Spahn also went into the utilization of the intensive care units.
According to a report by “Bild”, Wieler said in a background conversation that he was aware of reports about a high proportion of migrants among seriously ill patients, but that the topic was a “taboo”.
Now the RKI boss emphasized that the descriptions were the reports of three chief physicians.
The RKI did not have any data on the migration background of Covid 19 patients.
Spahn referred to awareness-raising campaigns that the federal government had run in various languages on social networks.
A study on the subject is not planned.