In view of the huge number of Corona cases and the overload of the health offices, the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Health is questioning the full recording of the data. The question is whether the effort to fully record the cases still makes sense or whether it would be better to rely on qualified random sampling, said Gerhard Herrmann, the responsible department head in the Ministry of Health, in the state parliament's health committee on Wednesday. NRW also wants to push the issue in the Conference of Health Ministers.

The districts in NRW and also district councillors had already demanded that the health offices be relieved of the time-consuming reporting procedure of new Corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). At present, hundreds of staff members of the municipal health offices in NRW are busy recording every single positive Corona case and submitting them for the statistical survey.

Even though the demand for Corona vaccinations is decreasing, another 8,326 vaccinations have been administered in Bonn between 1 and 8 February 2022 - 875 first, 1,355 second and 6,096 booster vaccinations. So far, a total of 284,946 first, 286,706 second and 221,618 booster vaccinations have been given in the federal city.

Vaccination centres without appointments: Due to declining demand, the city will adjust the opening hours of its vaccination centres, where no appointment is required for a vaccination, from 14 February 2022. The vaccination centre at the Town Hall, Berliner Platz 2, will be open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 6pm, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12pm to 6pm, and on both Saturdays, 12 and 26 February 2022, from 10am to 2pm. 

The vaccination centre at Stadthalle Bad Godesberg, Koblenzer Straße 80, will then be open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 2 to 6 p.m. for children and adults. For children's vaccinations, an appointment can be made online at www.ciz-bonn.de. The vaccination centre in the Beueler Brotfabrik, Kreuzstraße 16, offers Corona vaccinations on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3 to 7 pm.

All information and vaccination opportunities can be found on the internet at www.bonn.de/impfen.

At carnival, the City of Bonn designates customary zones at well-known places of celebration. This is the result of consultations in the city's crisis management team on Wednesday. The regulations will apply on the great days from 24 February to 1 March inclusive. In addition, an alcohol ban will be imposed. The city will carry out spot checks in the custom zones. The same rules apply in Cologne, but there the entire city area will be a customs zone and there will be no obligation to wear masks.

The celebration areas, where people are allowed to sway, dance, eat and drink, mainly concern the party areas in Bonn that are particularly popular on carnival days. This is to ensure that infection control is as good as possible where carnival is traditionally celebrated, explains the municipal press office.

The custom zones include the Old Town (between Berliner Platz, Kölnstraße, Kaiser-Karl-Ring, Hochstadenring and Bornheimer Straße), the Old Customs, Berliner Freiheit, Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz, Brassertufer, Erzbergerufer, Frankenbadplatz, Friedensplatz, Hans-Steger-Ufer, Hofgartenwiese, Kennedybrücke, Konrad-Adenauer-Platz, Kaiserplatz, Markt, Münsterplatz, Moltkeplatz, Poppelsdorfer Allee as well as the public areas around Poppelsdorfer Schloss, Stadtgarten and Theaterplatz. Anyone who wants to celebrate carnival there needs a complete vaccination protection (two vaccinations) and additionally a daily negative rapid antigen test, a maximum 48-hour PCR test or a booster vaccination. 

The mask requirement in the pedestrian zone in Bonn will be extended up to and including 9 March. Furthermore, it will be extended over the carnival days to the customary zones as well as to the shopping areas in the districts of Bad Godesberg, Beuel and Hardtberg. 

The consumption of alcohol in public spaces will be prohibited on the five carnival days in part of the customary zones. Specifically, this applies in the Altstadt (between Berliner Platz, Kölnstraße, Kaiser-Karl-Ring, Hochstadenring and Bornheimer Straße), on Fritz-Schroeder-Ufer/Erzberger-Ufer/Moses-Hess-Ufer/Brassertufer (left bank of the Rhine) as well as on Hans-Steger-Ufer (right bank of the Rhine in Beuel) and on Poppelsdorfer Allee. 

To prevent pubs and restaurants from becoming too crowded at carnival, food and drink may only be served at fixed standing and seated areas. In addition, a further tightening applies indoors: "Boosting" does not replace a daily test. 

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