Hospitals in Brandenburg are admitting more and more patients with Corona. The number of Covid 19 patients was 998 on Thursday, just below the alert level of 1,000 in the state's warning light system, according to the health ministry on Thursday. The number of new Covid 19 patients in hospitals per 100,000 population in a week rose to about 19.6, and the alert level has been exceeded for some time. The percentage of free beds in intensive care units fell to 13.7 percent as of Wednesday - the alert level of at least 15 percent free intensive care beds has also cracked here.

The cabinet is expected to discuss stricter corona rules next Tuesday. Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens) believes it is necessary to extend the mask requirement from public buses and trains to stores and government offices. She sees hospitals under increasing strain. Minister of the Interior Michael Stübgen (CDU) had viewed the plans for an extended mask obligation skeptically last weekend, however. The three key figures on the situation in the hospitals form the basis for a decision by the state government on Corona measures.

The statewide seven-day incidence rose to about 691 on Thursday, but a week ago it was 778. However, Brandenburg no longer has a threshold for Corona measures for this incidence, which indicates new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in a week. The data provide only an incomplete picture of the infection figures because many cases are not recorded. In Frankfurt (Oder), the seven-day incidence of 1113 is above the 1,000 mark, and in Barnim it is around 520. Potsdam records a declining incidence of 719.6 and is in the state midfield.

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy