The seven-day incidence rate in Bonn has risen rapidly. City authorities declared the figure to be 136.5 on Monday morning. On Sunday, the incidence rate was at 118.3 and on Friday 114.4. In the past seven days, the city has registered 450 new infections, and 848 people are currently considered to be infected.

It is unclear how meaningful the figures are. The Robert Koch Institute announced that these numbers cannot yet be compared to earlier figures because of the school holidays and the Easter break. RKI President Lothar Wieler expects more reliable data on the pandemic again from the middle of this week.

In Bonn’s hospitals there are currently 88 people from Bonn and the surrounding area who are ill with Covid-19. 52 of these are on the normal wards, 36 are in intensive care, and 28 are on ventilators.

65,034 people have already received their first vaccination and 24,140 have already received the second. This means that almost one fifth of the people in Bonn (19.48 percent) have already been vaccinated once.

The incidence rate in the Rhine-Sieg district has exceeded the 100 mark again. On Monday the NRW State Centre for Health reported 103.5 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in one week. On Sunday, the figure was 87.7. In recent days, over 1,000 current cases have been reported to the RKI from the Rhine-Sieg district. This is likely to dash any hopes for the state government to release the so-called emergency brake for the region.

NRW Education Minister Yvonne Gebauer (FDP) has not named a date for the return of the majority of pupils to their classrooms. “It would be easier for everyone involved if we had a crystal ball,” she told WDR on Monday morning when asked what the situation will be like in the coming week. The state of infections has changed dramatically again in the past few days. “Of course, we have to take a close look at it all and then decide how to proceed from next week,” Gebauer said. A decision is to be made as soon as possible. However, the situation is “very unstable”.

In NRW, lessons began again at home on Monday following the Easter holidays - except for the final-year classes. This measure, taken because of the corona situation, is initially to apply for one week.

The number of new corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants reported in seven days has continued to rise in NRW. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the figure on Monday morning was at 131. On the previous day, the incidence rate was at 125. According to the data, 2386 new infections were reported in NRW in one day. The number of cases reported by the RKI is usually lower on Mondays, partly because there is less testing over the weekend.

The seven-day incidence rate was below the 100 mark in only nine districts and independent cities in NRW on Monday. This is the alarm threshold for introducing special protective measures. The rate remained particularly high in Remscheid (255), in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein (212) and in Hagen (210), all of which exceeded the 200 mark.

From 14 May, holidaymakers from other EU countries will be able to travel to Greece for a holiday without having to quarantine, the Greek Deputy Minister of Tourism Sofia Zacharaki announced on Monday. But there are certain requirements: “Holidaymakers must either be vaccinated or produce a negative PCR corona test result," she told Greek news channel Skai. They will then be free to spend their holidays in Greece. She said that this regulation would also apply to some other states. Serbia and the United Kingdom are among them, the Deputy Minister added.

Since the beginning of the year, the Greek government has been pushing for the development of EU-wide vaccination cards. This would help to rescue the Greek tourism industry, which normally accounts for almost one fifth of Greece's economic output. “We hope that this EU vaccination card will be in place by June," the Deputy Minister continued.

(Original texts: GA/dpa/epd, Translations: Caroline Kusch)