Measures for dealing with new Omicron variant

In view of the current spread of the new variant "Omicron" of the SARS coronavirus, various scientists have formulated a catalog of measures for dealing with the virus in the immediate future. In their statement, they give a prognosis for the timely development of the pandemic and formulate concrete recommendations for action for politicians. They also consider the different incidences of hospitalization in the individual German Bundesländer.

Currently, many properties of the new omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 are still poorly understood. However, it has already been established that this variant - similar to Delta at the time – shows several mutations. The rapid spread of Omicron and the resulting displacement of previous variants in the African south indicates increased transmissibility. Since the new variant has now also been detected in Germany, the question arises as to what measures can be taken to slow the rate of hospitalization in this country, the experts state.

Vaccination and boosting to a comprehensive extent are named as essential factors to sustainably reduce incidence rates in the near future. The statement also considers comprehensive implementation and monitoring of 3G to 2G+ measures to be appropriate, as is wearing a mouth/nose protection.

As a new indicator for the severity with which a region is affected by SARS-Cov-2, the hospital incidence was recently introduced by the Conference of Prime Ministers. This value records the number of people per 100,000 population who have had to be hospitalized due to Corona infection in the past 7 days. If there are more than 6 hospitalizations, the area or state is considered critical, if the number is greater than 9, the area or state is considered highly critical. If comparing the situation in the different federal states, one sees clear differences in this value. Therefore, the statement recommends in detail different measures adapted to the respective severity level.

Furthermore, the possible need for an "emergency circuit breaker" is also pointed out - with the clear indication that this can only have its effect in a short time if implemented stringently.