The fever curves of the corona pandemic are pointing upwards again - despite the summer weather, despite the vaccinations.

More and more people are infected with the corona virus again, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the nationwide incidence on Monday morning at 14.3.

The health authorities reported 958 new infections to the Berlin authorities within one day.

Within a week, this number has increased by 75 percent, as government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer emphasized on Monday in Berlin.

According to her, the federal and state governments are already considering new restrictions.

Kim Bjorn Becker

Editor in politics.

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At the beginning of July the world looked different, the incidence had reached its lowest level this year at 4.9.

But the situation in hospitals is more important than the incidence.

It is well known that vaccinations prevent severe disease progression in many cases.

But because the vaccination protection is not perfect, the proportion of seriously ill patients is likely to rise with the number of infections - albeit not as much as before the start of the vaccination campaign.

In fact, there are signs of a trend reversal in the hospitals these days: recently, the clinics have been reporting more patients who have to be treated in the intensive care unit because of a COVID-19 disease. The German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) counted 365 cases nationwide on Monday. Compared to the previous high of more than 5700 patients around the turn of the year, this is little. But the bottom seems to have been reached last Thursday with 350 patients, and since then the curve has been pointing upwards again.

What follows from this? The federal government is now thinking out loud about new restrictions. Government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer pointed out on Monday in Berlin that the number of infections has recently risen sharply. "If this trend continues like this, we will have to take additional measures," she said. Together with the federal states, the federal government wants to discuss in the coming days what conclusions should be drawn from the development. This is to be discussed in a round with the Prime Minister. 

The SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach also warned on Sunday that more infections would mean more hospital admissions despite vaccinations. “Therefore, 100,000 cases a day, as now partially forecast, would be a catastrophe,” Lauterbach wrote on Twitter. "We will have to adopt restrictions, probably shortly before the general election."

A look at Great Britain shows how it could develop. The number of infections there has been rising again for a while and more and more people have to be taken to hospital because of COVID-19. According to the British health service NHS, the number of hospital admissions last increased by more than a quarter within a week. Since last Thursday, more than 5000 patients have to be treated in hospital nationwide - as many as last at the end of March. The number of infected people who died up to 28 days after the infection was reported has risen again in the United Kingdom - by 59 percent within a week.