The Hamburg social authority has presented an extensive corona study. After that, Corona was also a virus in Hamburg at the beginning, which spread mainly in the wealthy parts of the city, reports the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR). People who were traveling during the 2020 winter holidays and brought it with them from vacation were particularly affected. “In particular, the ‘Super Spreader Event’ in Ischgl will have had an effect on the start of the pandemic in Hamburg,” says the study.
After that, the virus would have spread mainly in the poorer parts of the city, according to the study. In the third corona wave, in spring 2021, more than twice as many people were infected with corona in districts with a low “socioeconomic status” than in those with a higher status. Literally it says: “The evaluation of statistical data shows that in Hamburg in socially disadvantaged districts in the second and third waves about twice as high incidences were registered as in socially privileged districts.”
According to the study, there are several reasons for this: for example, small apartments in which families have no opportunity to keep their distance. Or jobs that cannot be done in the home office. An assignment to special developments in migrant communities, on the other hand, cannot be proven: “The higher infection dynamics in migrant districts is not so much due to the proportion of the foreign population itself, but rather to the socio-economic realities of life that prevail in these districts. “
In principle, Hamburg did not have a different wave pattern during the pandemic: “The COVID-19 infection dynamics in Hamburg roughly correspond to those for the entire federal territory,” according to the authors of the study.
The Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) North has meanwhile criticized the lifting of the obligation to isolate for people infected with corona announced by the state government. “The top priority is still: If you are sick, stay at home.” This is the best way to protect others from infection, said Chairwoman Laura Pooth when asked by dpa. With a view to the thin staffing levels in the health care system, however, care must be taken to ensure that this is possible at all. “The state government must invest significantly more in the hospitals and urgently relieve the employees’ time. So that they stay healthy at work,” said Pooth.
Michael Thomas Fröhlich, General Manager of the Association of Business Associations in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (UV Nord), also reacted rather cautiously to the decision. “The easing and relying on more personal responsibility is correct, but only letting infected people to the workplace with a mask is a bit short,” said Fröhlich. Occupational safety must continue to be guaranteed. Many questions remained unanswered for companies. “The economy is disappointed because the opportunity for a common and, above all, uniform North German path was missed, as Hamburg’s rejection of the Kieler Weg shows,” said Fröhlich.
Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein announced on Friday that they would lift the general obligation to isolate people who tested positive. For this purpose – outside the apartment – a five-day mask requirement indoors should apply to those who have a positive test but no symptoms.
