The city of Bonn announced on Sunday that the current incidence value in Bonn is 98.9. On the previous day, it was slightly lower at 97.4. Currently, 457 people are infected in Bonn. No further deaths in connection with the virus were reported over the weekend. So far, 141 people have died in connection with coronavirus in Bonn.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 8,594 people have tested positive for coronavirus. In the meantime, 7,996 people have recovered. 725 people are currently in quarantine.

The health authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia have reported 1100 new corona infections in one day. This means that the weekly number of new infections in NRW remained almost constant at about 86.2 per 100,000 inhabitants. 40 deaths were registered.

The number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in NRW was 212 on Monday, still above the critical level of 200. Münster (32.7) and the district of Coesfeld (37.6) were below the incidence rate of 50. The goal is to reach 50, which is the level at which the health authorities claim they will be able to trace the chains of infection.

The number of total cases in Germany continues to fall - on Monday morning, the Robert Koch Institute reported 5608 new corona infections and 175 new deaths within 24 hours. This is significantly less than last week.

The impact of the current corona lockdown has been kept in check so far. The stop-gap provided by the Kurzarbeit scheme is still holding effect, but the number of people affected has risen sharply in January. Kurzarbeit is the government unemployment insurance system in which private sector employees work reduced hours for reduced pay, with the state making up for all or part of the lost wages.

This year an unusually large number of public holidays fall on weekends: Labour Day on 1 May, German Unity Day on 3 October as well as Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Politicians from several parties are therefore calling for these public holidays to be made up for on working days as a Corona bonus.

Because vaccines against the coronavirus are in short supply, every dose counts. After announcing delays, manufacturer Biontech now plans to deliver up to 75 million additional doses of its vaccine to the EU. However, this will not happen until the second quarter of the year.

After heavy criticism, the manufacturer Astrazeneca has agreed to deliver more vaccine doses to the EU than previously announced. Nine million doses will be added, making a total of 40 million doses, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Twitter on Sunday evening. This is half of the originally envisaged quantity of 80 million doses. According to von der Leyen, Astrazeneca also wants to start deliveries a week earlier than planned. The company is also planning to expand its production capacity in Europe. Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides spoke of this as good news and a positive step forward.

48 of the 68 residents at the care home for the elderly in Ramersdorf are infected with coronavirus. In addition, the virus has been detected in 20 employees.

The coronavirus mutation which was first detected in Great Britain has now arrived in the district of Ahrweiler, the district administration reported on Sunday. “On Sunday, the British mutation B 1.1.7 was detected in an employee of a company on an industrial estate in the municipality of Adenau. All affected persons and their close contacts are self-isolating,” stated the district administration.

The infection may have been transmitted through contact with a business traveller from Great Britain. He had tested negative when entering Germany and is now back in his home country, according to the Ahrweiler district, but in the meantime, has tested positive. The traveller had also been in contact with people from other districts in North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg, who were also found to be infected with coronavirus. Further laboratory tests are currently being carried out to determine whether this is also the British mutation.

“Taking into account the mutations found in the EU and the various federal states in Germany, it was clear that these mutations would sooner or later also be detected here in the district,” said District Administrator Jürgen Pföhler.

The incidence rate in Cologne (as of Sunday evening) is 77.9 and the reproduction rate is 0.87. 247 people are currently in hospital inpatient quarantine in Cologne, 76 of these are in intensive care units. No further deceased persons who tested positive for coronavirus have been reported to the public health department.

(Original text: GA, Translations: Caroline Kusch)