Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) – The incidence of corona in Hesse has risen sharply within a week. The seven-day incidence, i.e. the number of reported new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days, was 948.8 on Friday according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). A week earlier, the value was 722.7. In the case of hospitalization incidence, the value has increased sharply. The state government is now also discussing additional protective measures.
It should be noted with the data that the seven-day incidence does not currently provide a complete picture of the infection situation. Experts assume a high number of cases not recorded by the RKI – mainly because not all infected people have a PCR test done. Only positive PCR tests count in the statistics. In addition, late registrations or transmission problems can lead to a distortion of individual daily values.
Almost 2.63 million corona infections have been registered in the state since the beginning of the pandemic. According to the RKI, the number of deaths in Hesse in connection with Covid-19 was 11,181 on Friday. That was 64 more than a week ago. In which cases Covid-19 was the main cause of death and in which the patients died of other diseases but were also infected with the corona virus is not usually clear from the information provided by the hospitals.
The incidence of hospitalization also increased. According to the Hessian Ministry of Social Affairs, it was 12.17 after 7.72 a week ago. This value indicates how many people per 100,000 inhabitants were admitted to hospital with a corona infection within seven days.
Further protective measures are currently being discussed. One possible measure is a mask requirement indoors, the Ministry of Social Affairs announced at the request of the German Press Agency. “The situation in the hospitals is currently tense in Hesse,” says a statement. On the one hand, they reported significant staff shortages, on the other hand, the Covid bed occupancy in normal and intensive care units has increased sharply in recent weeks. Masks are currently compulsory in Hesse in local public transport or in clinics, old people’s and nursing homes.
According to data from the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi), there were 155 adult patients with Covid-19 in the intensive care units of the Hessian clinics on Friday (as of 1:05 p.m.). 47 of them had to be ventilated.