COVID-19 pandemic in the Heinsberg district

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The district building in Heinsberg had to be closed to the public at the end of February 2020 in the wake of the Corona crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic occurs in the district Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia since February 27 2020 at relatively high number of cases (infections and deaths) as part of the global COVID-19 pandemic in appearance. In Germany, Heinsberg is regarded as the “first region” and “epicenter” of the pandemic.

Since March 6, 2020, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has listed the Heinsberg district as a “particularly affected area in Germany”. The special situation in the Heinsberg district was also widely reported in international media. The term “German Wuhan” became a synonym for the Corona crisis in Germany.

In the Heinsberg district , the first major spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany was caused , presumably as a result of a carnival meeting in the Gangelt community in which an infected couple took part .

background

The COVID-19 pandemic began in the People's Republic of China in December 2019 and affects the outbreak of the novel disease COVID-19 . This is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the Coronaviridae group and is one of the respiratory diseases . At the end of January 2020, the Webasto company in Bavaria saw the first cases in Germany . From March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the outbreak of the novel coronavirus as a global pandemic .

course

On February 15, 2020 the "cap meeting" of the carnival club "Langbröker Dicke Flaa" took place with around 300 participants in Langbroich - Harzelt in the municipality of Gangelt in the Heinsberg district. This carnival session is considered to be the reason that the virus spread rapidly in the Heinsberg district and that Heinsberg was later declared a particularly affected area by the RKI. Until the said carnival meeting, the chains of infection in most of the other cases in Germany could still be clarified. The street carnival took place in the district of Heinsberg and elsewhere in the Rhineland from February 20th (Old Women's Thursday) to February 25th (Violet Tuesday) . The virus was found in a couple from the Heinsberg district on February 24 and 25, 2020. Sick people described the carnival as a "fire accelerator" for the coronavirus outbreak in the Heinsberg district. The Covid outbreak in the Heinsberg district is considered a turning point in the epidemic in Germany.

On March 9, 2020, the first two people in Germany died of COVID-19, including a seventy-eight-year-old with previous illnesses from the Heinsberg district.

After the number of new infections had reached a low value of less than 5 infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week, numerous new infections were registered again on May 16, 2020. Of 400 tested employees of the logistics company DPD in the Hückelhoven parcel depot , 82 had suffered a Covid 19 infection. 55 of those who tested positive live in the Heinsberg district.

statistics

Development of the epidemic in the Heinsberg district

Confirmed Infections, Cures, and Deaths

The following COVID-19 case numbers have so far been confirmed in communications from the district building from the Heinsberg district:

Confirmed infections, cured persons and deaths (each cumulative) in the Heinsberg district
according to press releases from the district house

New infections

New infections (daily) in the Heinsberg district
from February 27 to July 14, 2020
according to press releases from the district office

Note: After July 14, 2020, no daily case numbers were reported by the Heinsberg district; subsequently partly weekly.

Confirmed deaths

The following COVID-19-related deaths have so far been confirmed in communications from the district building from the Heinsberg district:

Confirmed deaths (cumulative) in the Heinsberg district
according to press releases from the district house

7-day incidence

On August 13, 2020, the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days for the Heinsberg district was 4.3 .

Case numbers in relation to the number of inhabitants

On August 13, 2020 in the Heinsberg district with 2,010 confirmed infections and 255,555 inhabitants, the incidence so far is 786.5 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. The 87 deaths reported to date correspond to 34.0 deaths per 100,000 residents. The COVID-19 infections confirmed up to this day were distributed among the municipalities and the entire district as follows:

COVID-19 infections, cured persons and deaths per municipality in the Heinsberg district
Cities and other municipalities Residents
(EW) 		Confirmed
infections
(cumulative) 		Active
infections
(currently) 		Infections
per 100,000 inhabitants
( incidence ) 		Healed
people
(recovered) 		Confirmed
deaths
(cumulative) 		Deaths
per 100,000 inhabitants
Erkelenz (city) 000000000043206.000000000043.206 116 7th 268.5 102 7th 16.2
Gangelt (municipality) 000000000012576.000000000012,576 489 5 3888.4 471 13 103.4
Geilenkirchen (city) 000000000027470.000000000027,470 235 2 855.5 227 6th 21.8
Heinsberg (city) 000000000042236.000000000042,236 468 5 1108.1 433 30th 71.0
Hückelhoven (city) 000000000040245.000000000040,245 227 11 564.0 211 5 12.4
Selfkant (municipality) 000000000010137.000000000010.137 138 2 1361.3 131 5 49.3
Übach-Palenberg (city) 000000000024044.000000000024,044 89 2 370.2 80 7th 29.1
Waldfeucht (municipality) 000000000008842.00000000008,842 125 0 1413.7 115 10 113.1
Wassenberg (city) 000000000018630.000000000018,630 73 3 391.8 67 3 16.1
Wegberg (city) 000000000028169.000000000028,169 50 3 177.5 46 1 3.6
District of Heinsberg: (total) 000000000255555.0000000000255.555 2010 40 786.5 1883 87 34.0

Infections by age group and gender

On August 16, 2020, the COVID-19 infections in the Heinsberg district were distributed according to the data reported to the RKI as follows by age group and gender:

Infections in the Heinsberg district by age group and gender
according to data from the RKI

Reactions and actions

Health department of the Heinsberg district

As early as January 30, 2020, the health department of the Heinsberg district advised some measures for those returning from abroad, in particular China, to help prevent the spread of the new virus in the Heinsberg district.

Quarantine measures, closings and bans in the district

On February 27, 2020, 400 people who could have come into contact with those suffering from the coronavirus on February 15 were quarantined at home for 14 days in the Heinsberg district. Later that evening, an estimated 1,000 people in the Heinsberg district - the 400 mentioned and their families - were in preventive domestic quarantine.

On February 28, 2020, the district's crisis team decided the immediate closure of all schools, day-care centers and day care facilities up to and including March 6, 2020. This was later extended by the district to March 13 and decreed nationwide by the Ministry of Education from March 16 . In addition, all public administrations were closed to visitors; from March 3, 2020, restricted public traffic was permitted after prior agreement by telephone. On February 29, the number of infected people in the Heinsberg district rose to 60.

Public calls and help in the Heinsberg district

To increase the laboratory capacity, the district submitted a request for administrative assistance to the Bundeswehr in mid-March , which was rejected. As of March 22nd, the Bundeswehr supported the district with protective equipment and ventilators as part of administrative assistance.

The district administrator, Stephan Pusch , wrote an open letter to the government of the People's Republic of China on March 23, 2020. In it he asked for urgently needed protective equipment for the particularly affected district of Heinsberg. The available protective masks and gowns only lasted for a few days, the district administrator wrote to the Chinese head of state and party Xi Jinping and received an answer on March 24th via the Chinese embassy in Berlin . The subject of material requests should be forwarded to the Chinese consul general in Germany "and the Chinese would then do what they can to help us," the district administrator said. Stephan Pusch reported details about his approach on March 27th in a Deutschlandfunk interview. The TÜV Rheinland donated the Heinsberg district on April 3, 2020, a total 9,000 much-needed breathing masks .

Other measures of the district institutions and municipalities

Due to the great need for information , the district set up its own citizen hotline for information about the corona virus at the beginning of April . Citizens with questions about coronavirus infection can contact the Heinsberg district administration directly by calling 02452-131313. This can be reached from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Special emergency care was organized for the children for the indispensable doctors, care and nursing staff in the hospitals and care facilities of the district, so that the staff in key positions could ensure the maintenance of the public infrastructure. In coordination with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, a special regulation had been made in the Heinsberg district that this emergency care would only be offered in key positions. This regulation is therefore much stricter than in the other municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The mayors of the towns and municipalities belonging to the district of Heinsberg agreed on a uniform implementation of the ordinance on protection against new infections with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus of March 22, 2020. For example, the mayors made coordinated decisions on how to deal with street sales, which may only be carried out under observance of the appropriate precautions for hygiene and distance.

On April 6, 2020, the district of Heinsberg announced that the district and the Netherlands are working together in the border area to contain the coronavirus. The district regulatory office, in cooperation with the Dutch authorities, would therefore ask you to refrain from unnecessary visits to the neighboring country. Although the borders are open, it is hoped that less border traffic will reduce the number of new infections with the corona virus.

study

At the end of March 2020, scientists began a COVID-19 study at Gangelt in the Heinsberg district. This should provide recommendations for action for the coronavirus pandemic. The study is being carried out by the Bonn University Hospital under the direction of the virologist Hendrik Streeck in the Gangelt community . With around 1000 study participants from the community of 12,000 people, representative data were obtained to obtain facts about the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the number of unreported cases actually sick . The team of scientists is supported by 40 students. The first results of the study in the Heinsberg district, which is badly affected by the virus, should be available as early as the second week of April. The progress of the study will be published on Facebook.

A preliminary result was published on April 9, 2020. In this regard, the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, and the virologist Hendrik Streeck presented the first findings from the COVID-19 study in the Heinsberg district: According to the preliminary evaluation, around 15 percent of the citizens examined in the Gangelt community had a previous infection with the coronavirus and thus have immunity to the virus. The mortality in the study area, measured by the number of total infected, would be 0.37 percent.

The study and the preliminary presentation of the results were subsequently criticized. Streeck and his team should have taken more time to evaluate and communicate the results. The specificity of the antibody tests is also unclear and the determination of the number of infected people is dubious. The collaboration with the social media agency Storymachine is described as extremely unusual. Experts like Christian Drosten and Gérard Krause doubt the informative value of the Heinsberg study. You give no reason to loosen contact blocks.

On May 4, 2020, Hendrik Streeck, Gunther Hartmann and co-authors presented the results.

See also

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to the RKI, particularly affected areas in Germany are areas in which continued transmission from person to person ("ongoing community transmission") can be assumed. To determine this, the Robert Koch Institute uses various criteria (e.g. frequency of illness, dynamics of the number of cases reported daily, measures (e.g. quarantine of entire cities or areas), exported cases to other countries / regions). The situation is reassessed every day, and the risk areas are adjusted if necessary.
  2. ↑ a b c d This is a list of cases that were recorded by the Heinsberg district and reported to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) via the reporting channel or official sources. Since the situation is very dynamic, there may be deviations or delays between the cases announced by the Heinsberg district and the information provided by other bodies, such as the RKI or the relevant state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
  3. ↑ Listed are the deaths who died with and from SARS-CoV-2. Died with SARS-CoV-2 means that the person has died due to other causes, but there was also a positive result for SARS-CoV-2. Of deceased SARS-CoV-2 means that the person has died due to the disease reported.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Using the example of Heinsberg to understand the pandemic . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , accessed on April 1, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b District of Heinsberg becomes the first region . land.nrw, accessed April 1, 2020 .
  3. ↑ China asked for help: Heinsberg stands for the biggest problem in the Corona crisis . focus.de, accessed on April 1, 2020 .
  4. ↑ COVID-19 (Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2): Risk areas . Robert Koch Institute, accessed March 30, 2020 .
  5. ^ Strict, strict, Heinsberg: How German Wuhan became a role model for the whole country. In: mbc.news. March 30, 2020, accessed April 2, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Worst-hit German district to become coronavirus 'laboratory'. In: theguardian.com. March 31, 2020, accessed April 2, 2020 .
  7. ↑ How the German Wuhan became a model for the whole country . In: tagesspiegel.de. Retrieved April 1, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Corona crisis as a stress test for doctors. In: dw.com. Deutsche Welle, April 2, 2020, accessed on April 2, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Gangelt and the race against the coronavirus. In: wz.de. February 27, 2020, accessed April 2, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Pulmonologists on the net: Covid-19: Causes . Online at www.lungenaerzte-im-netz.de. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  11. ↑ Coronavirus patient treated in Munich Schwabing: That's why the clinic is predestined for it. January 28, 2020, accessed January 28, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Coronavirus Coronavirus: Seventh case of infection in Germany confirmed. In: Zeit online , January 31, 2020
  13. ↑ Tagesschau: "Deeply worried". WHO speaks of corona pandemic . March 11, 2020. Online at www.tagesschau.de. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  14. ↑ Coronavirus in NRW - It all started in Gangelt. In: wdr.de. February 29, 2020, accessed March 25, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Hundreds of people in the Heinsberg district released from quarantine. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved March 1, 2020 .
  16. ↑ First coronavirus infections in Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia confirmed. In: Stern . February 25, 2020, accessed February 25, 2020 .
  17. ↑ The origin of the infection could not be determined (as of February). Soldier contracted coronavirus in a seriously ill couple. In: Der Spiegel. February 26, 2020, accessed March 12, 2020 .
  18. ↑ www.main-post.de March 5, 2020: Heinsberg. Coronavirus: "Carnival was like a fire accelerator". There are well over 100 infected people in the Heinsberg district in North Rhine-Westphalia. We spoke to a woman who has been in quarantine for a week . Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  19. ↑ zeit.de March 11, 2020: How the corona virus came to Germany .
  20. ↑ Who were the two corona dead? n-tv, accessed March 9, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Daily status report of the RKI on Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19). Robert Koch Institute, May 16, 2020, accessed on May 19, 2020 .
  22. ↑ DPD is temporarily suspending operations in Hückelhoven due to corona infections. May 16, 2020, accessed May 19, 2020 .
  23. ↑ News from the district building, coronavirus in the Heinsberg district. Retrieved May 19, 2020 .
  24. ↑ a b c d e Heinsberg district: News from the district house . Online at www.kreis-heinsberg.de, accessed on July 3, 2020.
  25. ↑ a b Robert Koch Institute: Robert Koch Institute: COVID-19 Dashboard . Online at www.experience.arcgis.com. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  26. ↑ District of Heinsberg: Coronavirus . January 30, 2020. Online at www.kreis-heinsberg.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  27. ↑ Coronavirus: North Rhine-Westphalia - 400 people in Heinsberg under quarantine. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved February 27, 2020 .
  28. ↑ WORLD: Corona virus in Germany: 32 new infections - Hesse and Hamburg affected . In: THE WORLD . February 26, 2020 ( online [accessed February 28, 2020]).
  29. ↑ Coronavirus: 14 new cases confirmed in NRW, four in Baden-Württemberg - around 1000 people in quarantine. In: fr.de. February 27, 2020, accessed February 27, 2020 .
  30. ↑ Daniel Gerhards: Coronavirus district of Heinsberg: School closings should prevent the whole district from being sealed off. In: aachener-zeitung.de. Aachener Verlagsgesellschaft, March 6, 2020, accessed on April 4, 2020 .
  31. ↑ Mathias Richter: [03/13/2020] Dealing with the corona virus in schools (4th mail). In: schulministerium.nrw.de. Ministry of Schools and Education of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, March 13, 2020, accessed on April 4, 2020 .
  32. ↑ News from the district house. District of Heinsberg, February 28, 2020, accessed on February 29, 2020 .
  33. ↑ Live ticker: Coronavirus in NRW. In: wdr.de. February 28, 2020, accessed on February 28, 2020 (4:03 p.m.).
  34. ↑ Coronavirus in NRW: More than 60 infected people, including children. In: Welt online . February 29, 2020, accessed February 29, 2020 .
  35. ↑ More laboratory capacity: Heinsberg district asks the Bundeswehr for emergency aid. In: aachener-zeitung.de. Aachener Verlagsgesellschaft, March 13, 2020, accessed on April 4, 2020 .
  36. ↑ Christoph Pauli, Oliver Schmetz, Stephan Mohne: Bundeswehr does not come to Heinsberg: “Where else, if not here?” In: aachener-zeitung.de. Aachener Verlagsgesellschaft, March 17, 2020, accessed on April 4, 2020 .
  37. ↑ Corona crisis in Heinsberg - The Bundeswehr is helping! In: presseportal.de. North Rhine-Westphalia State Command Press Office, March 20, 2020, accessed on April 4, 2020 .
  38. ↑ a b c d e Heinsberg district: Coronavirus in the Heinsberg district . April 1, 2020. Online at www.kreis-heinsberg.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  39. ↑ Chinese Embassy in Germany: Opinion spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Germany to the open letter from the district administrator of Heinsberg, 03.24.2020 . Online at www.china-botschaft.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  40. ↑ WORLD: Heinsberger district administrator asks Xi Jinping for help - and receives an answer . March 23, 2020. Online at www.welt.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  41. ↑ Unconventional against Corona - The Heinsberg District Administrator Stephan Pusch , 7.12 minutes conversation with Moritz Küpper, Deutschlandfunk March 27, 2020 (1/2 year online)
  42. ^ District of Heinsberg: Citizen's telephone, district administration and medical on-call service . April 1, 2020. Online at www.kreis-heinsberg.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  43. ↑ FOCUS: Results next week? "Unique opportunity": Drosten's successor starts large corona study in the Heinsberg district . March 31, 2020. Online at www.focus.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  44. ↑ University Hospital Bonn: North Rhine-Westphalia starts a joint corona research project with the Institute for Virology at the University Hospital Bonn
  45. ↑ District of Heinsberg: Coronavirus in the district of Heinsberg . April 1, 2020. Online at www.kreis-heinsberg.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  46. ^ Rheinische Post Online: Pilot study on the corona pandemic: Researchers focus on Heinsberg . April 1, 2020. Online at www.rp-online.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  47. ↑ Deutschlandfunk: Covid-19. First study results expected from the severely affected district of Heinsberg . April 1, 2020. Online at www.deutschlandfunk.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  48. ^ Heinsberg protocol - home page. In: facebook.com. Retrieved April 8, 2020 .
  49. ↑ Hendrik Streeck , Gunther Hartmann , Martin Exner , Matthias Schmid: Preliminary results and conclusions of the COVID-19 case cluster study (Gangelt municipality). (PDF) In: land.nrw. April 9, 2020, accessed April 9, 2020 .
  50. ↑ Tagesspiegel: Interim results on coronavirus transmission. These are the first lessons of the Heinsberg study . April 9, 2020. Online at www.welt.de. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  51. ↑ WELT: These are the first results of the Heinsberg study . April 9, 2020. Online at www.welt.de. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  52. ↑ Kathrin Zinkant: Coronavirus: Doubts about the results of the Heinsberg study. Retrieved April 10, 2020 .
  53. ↑ Florian Schumann and Dagny Lüdemann: Criticism of the corona study from Heinsberg, Zeit Online April 10, 2020, accessed on April 10, 2020.
  54. ↑ Heinsberg Study results published , University of Bonn May 4, 2020. With a link to the preprint Hendrik Streeck et al., Infection fatality rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a German community with a super-spreading event .