With the emergence of the next Omikron wave in Germany, medical care is also coming under pressure again. Despite the summer temperatures, more than half of the country’s intensive care units are now forced to limit operations and numerous operations are again being postponed. Reason for the misery: large staff shortage due to too much absenteeism due to illness. Due to the Corona situation, the German health minister is even going without a holiday.
Also in our neighboring country, the corona pandemic is not taking a summer holiday – it is now clearly noticeable again in German clinics: “The high number of sick employees in particular causes problems in the health system – and some are finally starting their recovery – well-deserved vacation to enjoy the winter months with renewed vigor,” Gernot Marx, the president of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), told several media on Saturday.
You only know it in the colder seasons
55 percent of intensive care units — 736 in number — worked in partially restricted or restricted surgery. “Unfortunately, this is already a very high number that we have otherwise only seen in the colder seasons and higher Covid burden,” Marx said. According to the Divi daily report, 1,053 patients with Covid-19 were treated in intensive care on Saturday, 19 fewer than the day before.
Emergency care still insured
According to Marx, there are currently about twice as many as last year at the same time and almost four times as many as in 2020. At the same time, there are almost 2,000 fewer intensive care beds available than last year, mainly due to staff shortages.
Everywhere, the care for life-threateningly ill patients and emergency patients is guaranteed. “But in the hospitals many operations are being postponed again and the staff have to move,” Marx made clear.
Many cases of infection are not recorded at all
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave the nationwide seven-day incidence on Saturday morning at 700.3. The day before, the value of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants and week was 699.5, the month before 276.9. However, the incidence does not provide a complete picture of the infection situation.
Experts have long assumed that there will be a large number of cases that will not be registered by the RKI – especially because not all infected people have a PCR test. Only positive PCR tests count in the statistics. In addition, late registrations or transmission problems can lead to a bias in individual daily values.
Minister of Health cancels holiday
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) defended the government’s current corona policy. Many citizens wondered whether there would be contamination through the back door, the minister wrote on Twitter on Saturday. “No,” he assured — the seven-point plan he presented in June to prepare for fall is already underway.
This includes “an infection protection law sufficient for all levels of infection,” stressed the SPD politician, adding: “I’d like to forgo a holiday for this.”
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
