Minister President Hendrik Wüst (CDU) has announced concrete relaxations of the Corona protection measures for North Rhine-Westphalia in the Düsseldorf state parliament. "One of the first steps for us in North Rhine-Westphalia will be to noticeably withdraw contact restrictions for those who have been vaccinated," he said in a briefing to parliament the day before the next federal-state round on the Corona crisis. "In further steps, we plan to ease restrictions on restaurants, hotels and major events.“

Aware of the great strains and efforts made by the trade in recent months, the chairman of the Conference of Ministers said. "The FFP2 mask will be the central protective mechanism when shopping in future." At the same time, restrictions should be withdrawn that interfere particularly strongly with fundamental rights. This applies, for example, to the private sphere.

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach believes that the weeks-long sharp rise in the number of Corona infections in Germany has been broken. "The peak of the Omikron wave has been passed - pretty much on the day I predicted a month ago," the SPD politician told "Bild" on Tuesday. Therefore, "moderate relaxations" of corona restrictions are now possible, he explained, referring to the consultations of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the minister presidents this Wednesday.

Lauterbach had predicted the peak of the omicron wave for mid-February according to calculations of a scientific model. This, he said, showed how well this model worked. "The measures have been spot on," he said of the day-to-day requirements so far. "This has allowed us to significantly reduce the number of deaths and we have done really well through this Omikron wave compared to other countries. It should be acknowledged: Something worked."

According to an association, data from the PCR laboratories give a first indication of a decreasing Corona infection. For the first time since the beginning of the year, both the number of tests carried out and the so-called positive rate declined in the week up to Sunday, the Association of Accredited Laboratories in Medicine (ALM) announced on Tuesday. Within seven days, 2,366,691 PCR tests had been carried out, four per cent less than in the previous week. The nationally calculated positive rate - that is, the proportion of positive findings in all tests performed - was also somewhat lower than in the previous week at 43.9 per cent.

"The slight decrease in the number of tests is a first positive indication of a decline in the number of infections, but from the point of view of the laboratories, there is still reason for caution and prudence. The peak of the omicron wave has still not been reached in some federal states," said Nina Beikert, member of the ALM board.

Incidence value in Bonn decreases slightly

The seven-day incidence in Bonn has again dropped slightly. The value on Tuesday was 1461.7, compared to 1467.1 on Monday. 6,216 people are currently infected in Bonn. In the hospitals, 143 people are being treated for Covid-19. Of these, 114 are in normal wards. 29 have to be treated in an intensive care unit. Of these, 16 people are being ventilated.

Original text: dpa/ga - Translation: Mareike Graepel