frankfurt tops the country’s incidence table. 1060 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants were reported here in the previous week. There are only three cities in Germany where the incidence is even higher: in several districts of Berlin, in Bremen and in Delmenhorst. Although the omicron variant of the coronavirus leads to many infections, the burden is not yet reflected in the Hessian hospitals. There is no noticeable increase in the number of infections in new hospital admissions or in the occupancy of intensive care beds by Covid 19 patients.

With the increasing number of new infections, the probability of finding out about an infection with the corona virus in your own environment also increases. A red risk warning in the Corona-Warn-App should lead directly to a self-test – or in a test center. If any of these tests come back positive, you are entitled to a free PCR test, but not all private test stations offer them.

The Hessen Medical Association (KVH) offers the PCR tests immediately in its test centers in three cases: if you have symptoms of illness, a red note in the Corona warning app or a test request from the health department because you are considered the contact person of an infected person. In the test centers at the university clinic and at the trade fair, you can then appear Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. without registering, in Offenbach Tuesday to Friday at the same time. However, the laboratories that cooperate with the KVH are currently quickly stretched to capacity with 1,800 PCR tests a day. For comparison: a month ago only about 500 PCR tests were needed there. However, the capacity is to be increased shortly, promises a spokesman for the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.

Until the result of such a test is available, you should stay at home and avoid contact with others. If it is positive, one should isolate oneself at home for ten days, even if there are no symptoms. This means that you are not allowed to leave the house and you are not allowed to receive visitors. Household members are required to quarantine for ten days with the option of free testing after seven days using a rapid PCR or antigen test. Excluded from the quarantine are household members who have been vaccinated three times or have recovered within the last three months or have been vaccinated for the second time or may have been vaccinated within the last three months after having been previously infected. Children and young people in day care centers or schools can shorten the quarantine even further if a rapid antigen test is carried out at the earliest five days after the last contact and the result is negative.

Every infected person is written to by the health department with a standard letter, but contact can take some time due to the high number of cases. It is currently not possible for the health department to contact every person who has tested positive by telephone. The quarantine rules can be read in detail at frankfurt.de/corona/quarantäne.