Covid-19: Number of Germans infected could be 10 times higher than official estimates
Ned Stafford · BMJ · 2020
The number of people in Germany infected with covid-19, could be 10 times higher than official government estimates, according to a new study by University of Bonn researchers.1 The Heinsberg study is based on an investigation in Gangelt, a town of around 13 000 people in the North Rhine-Westphalia district of Heinsberg. Following the annual carnival celebration in February, the district became the first area in Germany with a massive covid-19 outbreak. The study, which has been uploaded to a preprint server, found that about 15% of Gangelt residents had been infected with covid-19, compared with the official infection rate at the time of only 3%. The higher infection rate for …