Status: 04/10/2021 5:37 p.m.
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The number of infections remains high nationwide – and there is a growing fear in hospitals that the intensive care units will again reach their limits. Even the triage scenario is in the room again.
In view of the persistently high number of infections with the corona virus, concerns are growing again in German clinics about reaching their limits in the care of corona patients.
“We are now being caught up in the clinics by the infections that took place four weeks ago,” warned the chairman of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, in an interview with the “Passauer Neue Presse”. It is therefore correct that hospitals across Germany are again preparing for an onslaught of new patients.
The Berlin Charité is also preparing for a higher utilization of its intensive care beds. The number of newly admitted Covid-19 patients has already increased significantly in the past two weeks. According to the register of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), 90 corona patients who are dependent on additional ventilation are now being treated again in the Charité. There are currently around 280 patients in all clinics in Berlin.
Younger age group more affected
The age group between 30 and 60 years is now affected. The head of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler, had also pointed out the increase in younger patients. According to data from around 70 clinics nationwide, more and more and younger people have to be treated in hospitals for severe respiratory infections. The intensive care units filled rapidly. “Unfortunately, this development shows that the situation is very, very serious,” said Wieler.
Martin Kreis, board member of the Berlin Charité, speaks of a “clear trend” that is forcing his institute to react. Because: “If the number of seriously ill Covid patients exceeds the second wave, we come into a critical situation,” warned Kreis. At the beginning of the year, the Charité had reached its limit due to the high number of patients and could not have admitted corona sufferers from other clinics that were also overloaded.
A reserve intensive care unit has already been reopened in the Charité and it is being checked again which operations that are not absolutely necessary can be postponed.
More than 5000 corona patients by the end of April?
The Charité is by no means an isolated case nationwide. Gernot Marx, DIVI President, had already warned on Friday that up to 100 corona patients would be admitted to German intensive care units every day. By the end of the month, clinics nationwide would “certainly” have to care for more than 5,000 patients infected with the coronavirus. Especially with a view to the limited number of intensive care beds, these are “really high numbers”.
Triage “is definitely in the room”
Montgomery didn’t rule out even the worst case scenario for medical professionals: triage. Triage is the situation in which doctors, due to insufficient capacities, have to decide which patients should receive medical care first. In the corona pandemic, for example, additional ventilation. The triage will “definitely” be back in the room, said Montgomery.
“We were very grateful that it was not needed in the first two waves,” said Montgomery, looking at an impending triage. But now he thinks it is “conceivable that there will be situations in which it is used”.
RKI: More than 24,000 new infections within one day
The health authorities in Germany reported 24,097 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within one day. In addition, the institute registered 246 new deaths related to the virus within 24 hours. A week ago, the RKI had recorded 18,129 new infections and 120 new deaths within one day.
According to the RKI, the number of new infections reported within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants was 120.6 nationwide. The day before, the RKI gave this seven-day incidence as 110.4; a week ago it was over 130.
Incidence value only partially meaningful
Because of the bank holidays and school holidays, the corona numbers are not yet comparable with the values before Easter. According to the RKI, the incidence value should currently be treated with caution and should be too low due to fewer tests and reports over Easter. The RKI expects the incidence value to be reliable again in the course of the coming week.
Nationwide corona numbers and incidence value are increasing
tagesschau24 9:00 a.m., April 10, 2021
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Almost three million infections
The RKI has counted 2,980,413 detected infections with the coronavirus in Germany since the beginning of the pandemic. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections are not detected. The RKI stated the number of those who had recovered at around 2,661,500. The total number of people who died with or with a proven infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 78,249.
The nationwide seven-day R-value was 0.90 according to the RKI situation report from Friday evening (previous day: 0.80). This means that 100 infected people infect 90 more people. “The 7-day R-value is currently below 1, whereby the influence of the Easter holidays must be taken into account,” writes the RKI. The values could only be evaluated in a few days.
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