As of 26 December, 49 cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Bonn. This was announced by the city on Monday. Four infected persons have recovered in the meantime. This means that 45 people are currently infected with the Omicron variant. With regard to Omicron, there are 114 close contacts. Of these, 94 people are in quarantine. The city did not publish current figures on the incidence on Monday. The state centre put the figure at 197.8 on Monday, a slight drop from 203.9 on 23 December.

The Rosenmontag procession in Cologne with hundreds of thousands of spectators will probably not take place due to the forecasts of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus. As the Cologne Carnival Festival Committee announced on Monday, alternatives to the classic procession at the end of February are currently being examined. Thus, as in 2021, persiflage floats are to be seen at various points.

It had already been decided in mid-December that the majority of the sit-down carnival in North Rhine-Westphalia would also be cancelled in the current 2021/22 season due to Corona. The state government had agreed on this with representatives of the organised carnival.

The Corona pandemic is also slowing down the flu wave this winter, according to a study. According to an analysis by the Barmer health insurance company published on Monday, an average of 722 people insured by the health insurance company were on sick leave due to influenza from 3 October to 27 November. In the same calendar weeks of the previous year, it was an average of 748 insured persons and in 2019, i.e. before Corona, an average of 1,383 persons, it said.

According to the data, the number of people sick with influenza has increased somewhat recently, but it is still well below the comparative figures from the year before the pandemic. "Flu has played a minor role so far this winter," said Christoph Straub, chairman of the board of Barmer. "There is much to suggest that it will stay that way. Because the distance and hygiene rules to protect against Corona obviously also reduce the risk of influenza." This positive effect is all the more important because many clinics are already working at the limit because of Corona and the highly contagious Omicron variant is on the rise.

(Original text: dpa/ga; Translation: Mareike Graepel)