Corona infections and hospital admissions continue to decline significantly, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The seven-day incidence was down 28.8 percent from the previous week, the RKI said in its weekly report for May 16-22. It recorded 350 infections per 100,000 population in seven days. Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Lower Saxony had the highest seven-day incidences among the German states.

For the past 24 hours, the RKI reported 39,705 new infections. That's 19,014 fewer cases than a week ago Thursday, when 58,719 Corona infections were reported. The seven-day incidence nationwide thus drops to 262.6 from 281.8 the previous day. 136 more people died in connection with the virus. This brings the total number of reported deaths to 138,779.

The number of reported infections per week dropped from 408,406 to 290,885 nationwide, but in light of these numbers, the RKI estimates that the risk to the population remains high. Vaccination has not lost its importance, writes the RKI. In particular, people from risk groups and from 70 years should protect themselves with a second booster vaccination against severe diseases.

Compared to the previous week, the incidences continued to fall in all age groups, according to the RKI. According to the report, the strongest decline was among five- to nine-year-olds with 40 percent, followed by zero- to four-year-olds with 38 percent. But also in the age groups over 70 years, the incidences decreased by 24 to 30 percent.

The number of hospital admissions has been steadily declining since a peak in mid-March, he said. The number of deaths also continues to decline. Vaccination has not lost its importance, the RKI emphasizes. On Tuesday, the Standing Commission on Vaccination (Stiko) had also recommended healthy children from five to eleven years a Corona vaccination.

Among the Corona lines, Omicron BA.2 continues to dominate with 96.4 percent, although its share has decreased slightly. The share of BA.5 has approximately doubled, from 1.2 to 2.5 percent. BA.4 also increased slightly to 0.4 percent.

Mixed variants were observed in small numbers, but no strong growth was observed. So far, according to the RKI, there is no epidemiological evidence of a change in their transmissibility, virulence or altered immune response. Only a fraction of the positive tests for individual lines are evaluated. Moreover, these data refer to the 19th calendar week (May 9-15).

As Thursday is a public holiday, the RKI published its weekly report already on Wednesday evening and in a highly abbreviated version.