The Corona numbers are increasing inexorably - but celebrations are taking place everywhere, only a few conditions still apply. How about the Oktoberfest?
Munich (dpa / lby) - Despite the increasing corona numbers, the Munich infectiologist Christoph Spinner sees no reason to forego public festivals and especially the Oktoberfest. "I don't know why the Wiesn shouldn't take place," said Spinner of the German Press Agency. However, he advised a second booster before visiting a folk festival. The risk of infection is increased at the folk festival.
Only people at risk of a severe course of Covid-19 should perhaps stay in the beer garden - or avoid the Oktoberfest altogether, said Spinner.
"Of course, current observations point to an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the context of folk festival events, as would also be expected at the Oktoberfest. The optimization of vaccination protection, for example through a second booster two to four weeks before the Oktoberfest, can noticeably reduce the risk of infection again," said the pandemic officer at the Klinikum Rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich.
Last but not least, the so-called Wiesn flu was also rampant in the past - due to the large crowds and the narrowness in the beer tents: Doctors registered increased numbers of flu infections during the folk festival and afterwards in the Munich area.
According to Spinner, people who are vaccinated and have also gone through Corona are more likely to be protected from re-infection than just vaccinated people.
In the long run, given the very high infectiousness of Covid-19, it will not be possible to avoid an illness with certainty. "It's going to hit everyone sooner or later," Spinner said. "In my view, it is essential to return more and more to normality, even with Covid-19, and to focus protection primarily on risk groups," said the doctor. "High incidences alone shouldn't scare us - but we have to remain vigilant."
In April Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) decided that the Wiesn should take place again this year. The largest folk festival in the world, with around six million visitors, was canceled twice in a row due to the pandemic.
