Coronavirus numbers increasing Schools in Siegburg are closed effective immediately

Rhine-Sieg district · Students who attend schools in Siegburg have been sent home on fall vacation one day early. This was the result of an agreement by city and district authorities. The reason is the high number of coronavirus infections

 The Anno Secondary School and all other Siegburg schools remained closed on Friday.

The Anno Secondary School and all other Siegburg schools remained closed on Friday.

Foto: MEIKE BÖSCHEMEYER

The city of Siegburg is closing its schools one day early due to rising corona infection rates. The closing comes one day before the official start of the two-week autumn break. While the seven-day incidence rate of the Rhine-Sieg district was 22.3 on Thursday, the city of Siegburg reported a rate of 69 on Thursday at 12 noon. The town and district then agreed on immediate measures and schools were closed without delay. School sports halls will be closed until at least October 25. Private parties must also be registered in Siegburg and will be limited to a maximum of 25 people. The district and city strongly recommend that masks be worn in all public spaces in Siegburg, including outdoors.

The city intends to take further measures if the rapid spread of the pandemic cannot be slowed down. As reported, a church service at a parish in Siegburg had apparently led to an increased incidence of infection.

Overall, the number of new corona infections in Germany has risen sharply. The health authorities reported 4,058 newly registered infections in the previous 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). This is an increase of more than 1,200 since Wednesday, when 2,828 new infections were reported, making it the highest number since the first week of April.

In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, 1,056 infections were reported - more than a quarter of the new cases. Three other major cities in North Rhine-Westphalia exceeded the mark of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days on Thursday: Hagen, Wuppertal and Aachen. Hamm and Remscheid remain above the 50 mark. The incidence rate in NRW rose to 27.0 on Thursday - the highest rate of all German states.

The president of the RKI, Lothar Wieler, said: "I am very concerned about the situation. One doesn't know how the situation will develop in the coming weeks. "It is possible that we will see more than 10,000 new cases per day. It is possible that the virus will spread uncontrolled." Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) said that it is important to prevent that faster growth leads to a moment "where we lose control". But he stressed: "We are not there yet.”

The rising infection rates are also making themselves felt in intensive care units in NRW. According to the state government, 535 Covid-19 patients were treated in hospitals on Thursday - a month ago there were only 190. 136 patients were in the intensive care unit, 75 were on ventilators.

(Orig. text: man/dpa; Translation: ck)
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