Robert Koch Institute assumes an increasing death rate
Almost 600 people in Germany have died as a result of Covid-19. The RKI has released information about who is fatal to the lung disease.
The head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) assumes that there will be many more Covid 19 deaths in Germany. "I expect the death rate to increase," said Lothar Wieler at a press conference on Tuesday. "We now also have a large number of cases in nursing homes and old people's homes, where the particularly affected risk groups live."
The average age of those previously died in Germany from Covid-19 is 80 years. According to Wieler,
the youngest person who died of Covid-19 in Germany was 28 years old and suffered from previous illnesses. The fact that the death rate in Germany is currently still quite low
at around 0.8 percent is due to the fact that the Federal Republic tested "very early and very much", said Wieler. "That's why we found a lot of mild cases."
In the meantime, more than 61,000 people in Germany have been infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus. So far,
583 people have died from the effects of Covid-19, and around 16,100 are considered to have recovered. "Everyone can develop Covid-19, regardless of age," said Wieler. "However, the risk of getting seriously ill increases with age and whether you have previous illnesses or not." There are also more male deaths than female deaths.
Study examines risk perception of the population
In the press conference, Wieler also referred to a study that uses surveys to investigate the protective behavior and risk perception of the population. The Cosmo consortium (Covid-19 Snapshot Monitoring)
asks online once a week how the risks of Covid-19 are perceived by the population and which protective measures the Germans approve or reject. The aim of the project is to get a repeated insight into the perception of the population.
"According to this, 41 percent of respondents consider Covid-19 to be dangerous," said Wieler. "And that's true: it's a dangerous disease and the more people see it, the better." Nevertheless, the outbreak is still perceived by many as "media hype", which is unfortunate.
Older people belonging to the risk group in particular would perceive a relatively low risk of illness. "Many are still taking care of their grandchildren," said Wieler. It is great that the older people take over this service, but it is important that the risk groups protect themselves. "I would like to ask everyone to take the disease seriously and to adhere to the distance requirement."
According to the study, around 90 percent of Germans knew that they should stay at home if they were sick. "But only 77 percent do it," said Wieler. "And only 63 percent go into self-quarantine if they have symptoms."
Regarding the effectiveness of the mask requirement introduced in Jena, Wieler said: "Mouth and nose protection is used to protect others from infection. If someone is infected themselves, the protection ensures that the droplets cannot fly so far." A self-made mouth and nose protector also prevents droplets from flying around after sneezing or coughing. So-called FFP2 masks should be reserved for medical personnel.
