Overview
- National wastewater monitoring shows a renewed rise in SARS‑CoV‑2, with about 67,000 gene copies per liter in October versus more than 100,000 a year earlier.
- RKI reports a modest severe burden with 163 COVID‑19 patients in ICUs nationwide and no death reports so far this autumn.
- Hamburg, Schleswig‑Holstein and Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern confirm week‑over‑week increases in reported cases, yet lab‑confirmed totals remain well below 2024 and severe respiratory illness is low.
- Health authorities caution that reduced lab testing and more home testing create a sizable undercount of infections.
- STIKO and local experts press seasonal vaccinations—COVID‑19 boosters for risk groups, influenza shots now, and RSV vaccination for older or high‑risk patients—plus masking when symptomatic, hand hygiene and staying home when ill.