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Germany was considered an example for other European countries during the first wave of coronavirus and praised by the health system, considered one of the best in the world. But now he faces the worst and worst cases since the start of the pandemic, reports CNN.
The number of coronavirus infections reached a record on Friday, with almost 24,000 new cases in 24 hours, as well as the number of patients in the country’s intensive care units. Official data shows that the number of COVID-19 patients in German intensive care units has risen from 267 on September 21 to 3,615 since November 20, a 13-fold increase in just two months.
Europe’s largest economy has fared quite well through a pandemic so far, compared to neighboring countries. This is due in part to its high intensive care capacity, with 33.9 beds per 100,000 inhabitants. Italy, for example, has only 8.6. But with the increase in COVID cases in Europe, even the German healthcare system is under pressure, and hospitals in some areas are increasingly approaching their limits.
Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Friday that the system could collapse in a few weeks if the current trajectory continues.
“The number of serious ATI cases is constantly increasing. The death toll is something that is not really talked about and is still very high,” said Steffen Seibert, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“We have not yet managed to get the numbers back to a low level. Basically, we have only managed to pass the first step so far, which is to curb the strong, sudden, exponential growth of infections and now we are stable, but the number of cases continues being very, very tall, ”he added.
Michael Oppert, ATI director at Ernst von Bergmann Hospital in Potsdam, is equally concerned about the dramatic increase in recent weeks and expects things to get worse.
“We are not on top of the wave right now, at least as far as I can see,” he told CNN. “And we have the capacity for a few more patients, but if this growth continues to be so fast, I think that even our hospital, with more than 1,000 beds, will reach a point where we have to send patients home or to other hospitals to be treated, ”he says.
Bettina Schade, chief nurse for the hospital’s COVID ward, described how the ward has changed in recent weeks.
“The number of patients has increased. We receive many more patients with different degrees of disease. Both for the normal COVID segment and in ATI. We are currently faced with the need to put many patients from the normal COVID department in intensive care very quickly, because the condition of the patients is deteriorating very rapidly, ”he says.
This is true even for many younger patients with severe symptoms, said Tillman Schumacher, an infectious disease physician.
“We have patients in their 30s or 40s here who are hooked up to a ventilator and I’m not sure they will survive,” he says.
Only two of the 16 ATI beds for COVID patients were vacant at the time of the CNN team’s visit and hospital staff are already canceling non-urgent operations to empty beds and making plans to convert more intensive care units into units. COVID. .
Dr Uwe Janssens, director of the Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) in Germany, explained what measures would be taken if the current increase in the number of cases continues. “We must close the usual hospital program, partial closure of normal operations and hospitalizations of patients that we can delay for a few weeks. There are people who do not need urgent surgery. These can be postponed. And by doing this, we will gain the capacity and staff to help ATI doctors, ”he says.
This is bad news for all of Europe. So far, Germany has received COVID patients from neighboring countries whose health care systems are overwhelmed.
Anne Funk, head of the division for cross-border cooperation in Germany’s smallest state Saarland, which borders France, told CNN that during the first wave of the pandemic, hospitals received 32 French patients. At the end of October, Saarland offered France eight beds; so far three patients have been transferred.
“We want to help where we can. We don’t want to differentiate between nationalities. At present, we still have capabilities. We coordinate with the medical and local authorities in France, according to individual needs. We are here to help,” he said.
At the moment, the state can still receive patients from abroad, but as ATI departments in Germany are rapidly crowding in, it is unclear for how long they will be able to do so.
Editing: Monica Bonea
