The predominance of the coronavirus mutants BA.4 and BA.5, as well as the end of protective measures against COVID-19, led to a rapid increase in the number of infections. On Thursday, the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s central infectious disease agency, reported 135,402 new coronavirus infections, with 147,489 infections on Tuesday. The 7-day incidence increased from 650 on Monday to over 690 infections per 100,000 inhabitants.
These numbers are not beginning to reflect the actual extent of the disaster. The abolition of free testing, the abolition of compulsory testing for specific activities, and the dramatic reduction in testing options mean that only some of the total infections will be registered. Every day, 100 to 200 people die of COVID-19. Officially, there have already been 142,000 deaths from the coronavirus in Germany.
As a result of the murder policy of outbreaks, hospitals that have reached their limits for two and a half years are on the verge of collapse again. On Monday, the number of coronavirus intensive care patients exceeded 1,000, according to a daily report of the German Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine Interdisciplinary Association (DIVI) Intensive Care Registration. This is the highest number of cases since mid-May.
Christian Karagiannidis, Head of Science at DIVI, warned that bed occupancy in summer is relatively high. He added that the number of beds available would continue to decline due to staff shortages. Increasing hospitalizations is not the only thing pushing the overall healthcare system to the limit. I am absent from work because more and more employees are infected.
Gerald Gaß, Chief Executive Officer of the German Hospital Association (DKG), told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND): At times, admission to the emergency room is also affected.
“Hospital bottlenecks are occurring, especially in Schleswig-Holstein, where infection rates are high,” said Susanne Jona, chairman of the Marble Garband Medical Association. Handelsblatt.. “Health care is reaching its limits in some places. In the third year of the pandemic, this is a real disaster.”
Looking ahead to the coming autumn waves, Jonah explained: “Then we’ll deal with not only the coronavirus, but perhaps the aggressive flu wave. This combination of coronavirus and flu wave has to deal with two serious illnesses on a large scale. It’s a real problem because it doesn’t. “
The entire department of the large hospital is already paralyzed. The university hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) had to close several wards at the Kiel and Lübeck sites due to lack of staff. On July 1, 479 employees were isolated, exceeding 600 by July 8.
The long-running shortage of staff has also had a major impact on other federal states. The situation in hospitals in Saxony is also very dilute due to cases of coronavirus in the workforce and a general shortage of nursing staff. “The economic situation and staff shortages make the situation even more difficult,” said Friedrich R. Munich, Deputy Managing Director of the Saxony Hospital Association. He pointed out that “future service restrictions” cannot be ruled out.
Care delivery is already worse than it was before the pandemic. At the St. Georg Clinic in Leipzig, there are about a quarter less beds in operation today. This is due to a shortage of staff and the absence of COVID-19.
More nurses have decided to leave the health care system in the last two years, according to a hospital spokesman. So far, she said, “employee dedication” is the only thing that has prevented the closure of the entire ward.
According to the company, only five of the 11 operating rooms operated operating rooms at Asklepios Klinik Nord Heidberg in Hamburg last week. All areas of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) are also affected by staff shortages. “Currently, about 250 of the more than 14,400 employees are isolated. Therefore, since the pandemic began, planned and non-urgent surgery has been postponed many times and beds have to be closed. “The hospital said.
Dozens of other hospitals have agreed to reduce operational capacity across Germany.
At hospitals in Erding, Bavaria, an average of 140 out of 800 employees are now ill every day. Also, there are many vacancies that cannot be filled. In the meantime, one ward is completely closed, while others can only be operated to a limited extent and some cannot perform planned operations.
The MerkurA newspaper reported about a doctor in a hospital in Munich. Currently, only three of the eight operating rooms are operated, he explained. In an emergency, an ongoing operation may be aborted. “And now it’s midsummer, not winter,” said doctors, who have never experienced such a dramatic shortage of staff.
A nurse strike at a university hospital in North Rhine-Westphalia also shows a catastrophic situation in medical care. Employees are currently in the 10th week of the strike at six university hospitals. Workers are protesting unsustainable situations that endanger the lives and well-being of patients and employees while the Verdi Trade Union seeks to break the strike by concluding so-called “relief collective agreements.”
In the face of these dire developments, the government is sticking to its pandemic policy. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (Social Democratic Party) and other government representatives have revealed that effective measures such as blockades and closures of schools and businesses are no longer considered under any circumstances. “School closures should no longer take place,” Olaf Scholz said in a summer interview with the public broadcaster ARD.
Some states have abolished the last few remaining measures. In Bavaria, the state government has recently abolished the mandatory requirement to wear masks on public transport. Health Minister Klaus Horechek (Christian Social Union) defended this decision with a right-wing mantra. “Therefore, we are more focused on the personal responsibility of our citizens.”
In the face of staff shortages due to the coronavirus infection, Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Wolfgang Kubiki called for a further reduction in the quarantine period for those who tested positive for three days.
Trade unions also defend the “lifetime interests” policy. Maye Finnern of the Teachers Union (GEW) told RND that new schools and day care should be prevented from closing in the fall. It is precisely the reopening of day care facilities and schools that has led to the explosive growth of infections and the spread of viral mutations.
In Berlin, the Social Democratic Party / Left / Green State Government, the so-called “Red-Red-Green Senate,” is implementing austerity policies on health care. In the Neukolln area alone, the number of coronavirus staff will be reduced from 54 to 10. Neukölln public health doctor Nicolai Savaskan said this no longer guarantees the protection of elderly housing with care or vulnerable groups of elderly housing with care. “That means serious cases and death,” said the doctor.
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