It already existed earlier: the so-called Wiesn flu. At the time of the Oktoberfest and afterwards, doctors registered more and more influenza infections. Especially in times of a pandemic, doctors expect an increased risk of infection. A Munich infectiologist knows a remedy.
Despite the increasing corona numbers, the Munich infectiologist Christoph Spinner sees no reason to forego public festivals and especially the Oktoberfest. "I don't see why the Oktoberfest shouldn't take place," said Spinner seven weeks before the planned start of the Oktoberfest. However, he advised a second booster before visiting a folk festival. The risk of infection is increased at the folk festival.
"Of course, current observations point to an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the context of folk festivals, as would be expected at the Wiesn," said Spinner, the pandemic officer at the Klinikum Rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich. "The optimization of vaccination protection, for example with a second booster two to four weeks before the Oktoberfest, can significantly reduce the risk of infection."
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.
In April, Munich's Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter decided that the Oktoberfest should take place again this year from September 17th to October 3rd. In 2021 and 2020, the largest folk festival in the world, with around six million visitors, was canceled twice in a row due to the pandemic.
The nationwide seven-day incidence of the Robert Koch Institute is now 578.1. The day before, the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week was 607.0 (previous week: 709.7; previous month: 668.6). The health authorities in Germany recently reported 66,003 new corona infections (previous week: 92,009) and 117 deaths (previous week: 116) to the institute within one day.
However, this information only provides a very incomplete picture of the number of infections. Experts have been assuming for some time that there will be a large number of cases not recorded by the RKI - mainly because not all infected people have a PCR test done. Only positive PCR tests count in the statistics. In addition, late registrations or transmission problems can lead to a distortion of individual daily values.
The RKI has counted 30,853,312 detected infections with Sars-CoV-2 since the beginning of the pandemic. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections go undetected.
