Germany-K. Lauterbach: Coronavirus could mutate again and become a more serious threat

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has warned that the uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus will lead to preventable deaths, even if the strain is less severe than previous variants of the virus, according to Bloomberg.

“There is still no reason to give the signal for release,” the health minister said in Berlin on Friday. If the authorities release the virus, “the number of victims we will mourn then is unknown and will certainly be very large.”

Germany is in a “special situation” due to the relatively large percentage of elderly people who have not been vaccinated, he added.

His comments run counter to proposals to treat the virus as an endemic disease, such as the flu. Lauterbach, a Harvard-based epidemiologist, said the coronavirus still had serious consequences and could mutate again and become a more serious threat.

Germany on Friday announced a third consecutive daily record of new infections and the seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 people climbed above the previous ceiling set in late November.

As infections skyrocketed, the number of Covid patients admitted to the intensive care unit dropped to less than 3,000 from nearly 5,000 in early December. While this is further evidence that the Omicron mutation causes less severe symptoms, Lauterbach ruled out any move to ease restrictions on social interaction, which have been reduced by about 50% from pre-pandemic levels.

People may need an up-to-date vaccine later this year, and it is likely that unvaccinated people with Omicron disease will now continue to be vulnerable to strain infections next winter, according to Christian Drosten, director of virology at Charite Hospital. Berlin.

“The big guess is how we will be next winter,” he told the same press release. “Next winter is the decisive step. How will the pandemic continue and if we have achieved enough immunity.”