Record numbers of outbreaks in day care centers and schools, sick students, deaths: Germany is infecting its children

BERLIN. Corona rolls unchecked through Germany's daycare centers and schools. The children's incidences have now shot up to record numbers. The city of Würzburg and the rural district of Fürstenfeldbruck (also in Bavaria) are the frontrunners with values ​​of 7,383 and 7,444 respectively among the five to 14-year-olds. The incidence of corona-related doctor visits - case numbers per week per 100,000 people - has exploded among daycare children and schoolchildren since the beginning of the year. In addition, more and more deaths from corona infections among children and adolescents are being counted, meanwhile 47. Germany in spring 2022.

Although the PCR tests are now "prioritized" in the health sector due to insufficient capacities and therefore a growing number of infections in daycare centers and schools is no longer officially counted, the incidences among children and adolescents in Germany are still rising steeply. Apparently, parents are also becoming increasingly infected. "The 7-day incidence is still highest in the group of children and adolescents aged 5 to 19, but it has also increased significantly in the older age groups," says the Robert Koch Institute in its current weekly report.

It also notes that the incidences are expected to lose meaningfulness because the test capacities are insufficient. "For the assessment of the situation in the current situation of the pandemic, the focus is no longer on recording all infections caused by SARS-CoV-2, but on the development of the number and severity of the diseases."

Most recently, between 160,000 and 320,000 children were symptomatic of corona – and the trend is rising sharply

However, the corresponding data also indicate an unfavorable development for children and young people in Germany: “It was calculated for calendar week 04/2022 that around 1.6 to 3.2% of children and young people up to the age of 14 and 0.9 up to 1.8% of the population aged 15 and over fell ill with COVID-19 with symptoms of an acute respiratory disease.” Of the estimated 10 million children and adolescents in the age groups mentioned, between 160,000 and 320,000 children were symptomatic of corona, twice as much high proportion of acutely ill patients as in adults.

This can also be seen from the data on corona-related visits to the doctor: among the zero to four-year-olds, the corresponding incidence was around 100 at the beginning of the year – and rose to 300 within four weeks. For five to 14-year-olds, the figure was around 200 at the beginning of the year – and has more than tripled within four weeks (to around 750).

The number of corona-related deaths among children and young people is also increasing. Apparently another one was reported to the RKI last week, which affects a young person up to and including 19 years of age. This emerges from the comparison of the weekly reports from February 3rd and January 27th. "So far, 47 validated COVID-19 deaths in children and adolescents between the ages of 0 and 19 have been reported to the RKI. In 31 cases, there was information on known previous illnesses. According to RKI information, the deaths in children and adolescents are individually checked and validated, so that there may still be changes in the number of deaths in this age group in the published data. In the week between January 20th and 27th, the RKI was even notified of four deaths from Corona among children and adolescents.

The dynamics of what is happening can – still – be read from the incidences for children and adolescents. Among five to nine-year-olds, the number of new infections per 100,000 people within a week has risen to 3,322, the highest value ever measured for an age group in this pandemic. The development in the ten to 14-year-olds is similar: Here the value is currently 3296. The incidences in the two age groups have tripled within just two weeks.

“The number of reported school breakouts has also been increasing rapidly since the beginning of 2022”

The outbreak events in day care centers and schools obviously play a decisive role. The frequency of outbreaks reported in day-care centers has increased very rapidly since the turn of the year and reached 422 outbreaks in reporting week 02/2022, the highest number of outbreaks reported since the beginning of the pandemic. A total of 1,004 outbreaks have been reported for the last four weeks (reporting weeks 01 – 04/2022). The further course of the outbreak frequency in day-care centers cannot yet be assessed well due to late reports.”

The situation in schools is similar. “The number of reported school breakouts has also been increasing rapidly since the beginning of 2022. So far, 1,566 school breakouts have been reported for the last four weeks (reporting weeks 01-04/2022)," says the RKI's Corona weekly report. News4teachers

Click here for the current weekly report from the Robert Koch Institute.