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Olbernhau hospital in Erzgebirge looks deserted, there are some cars parked on the esplanade and no one is in sight. Inside, behind the white facade, the corona virus is rampaging. He has been claiming new deaths for weeks. “The situation is very serious,” says physician Armin Friedrich. Only recently eight new patients were admitted. “It is extremely stressful, also because the death rate is so high.”
In normal times, the “Olbernhau House” is a classic clinic for the population of the small Saxon town and its surroundings. Four seats, 90 seats, cafeteria in the entrance area. But since the start of the pandemic, only Covid 19 patients have been treated here. Initially, only ten beds were provided for corona patients, for months there were only a few infections in the Ore Mountains.
Now the situation in the hospital is increasingly precarious. There are currently 45 patients in the intensive care unit, two of whom require ventilation. The stress on the staff is great. “Caring for Covid-19 patients is more difficult and complex,” says Friedrich. “You have to take care of it with total protection.” “Many employees are infected or in quarantine.”
