German hospitals see sharp increase in Covid-19 patients
Covid-19 infections have been rising dramatically in Germany - and there are now fears about the increase in people being admitted to intensive care units.
On Thursday Germany reported 28.037 Covid-19 infections in the 24 hours - nearly 12,000 more than a week ago when 16,077 new cases were logged. During the same time period there were 126 Covid-related deaths - the highest number of deaths since June.
The 7-day incidence jumped to 130.2 Covid cases per 100,000 people on Thursday from 118 the previous day. A week ago the incidence was 85.6.
Die 7-Tage-#Corona-Inzidenz in 🇩🇪 macht einen großen Satz, von 118,0 auf 130,2.@welt pic.twitter.com/A6vBbF9VQ6
— Olaf Gersemann (@OlafGersemann) October 28, 2021
Now health experts are sounding the alarm about the situation in hospitals - and are urging people to get vaccinated.
Chairman of the board of the German Hospital Association, Gerald Gaß, said "We are in a critical pandemic situation."
Gaß said that the number of patients hospitalised with a Covid infection had risen significantly within a week.
The German Intensive Care register (DIVI) showed that 1,768 Covid-19 patients were in ICU across Germany on October 27th, with 918 receiving ventilation treatment. Doctors say the majority of patients are unvaccinated. There are almost 4,300 Covid patients in regular hospital wards across Germany, reported DPA.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) recorded the 7-day incidence of hospitalised cases as 3.07 per 100,000 population on Wednesday - up from 2.13 last Tuesday.
"If this trend continues, we will have 3,000 patients in intensive care again in just two weeks," Gaß said.
"Even if the hospitals can manage this, it will then not be possible without restricting regular operations," said the head of the association. It means that doctors in hospitals may have to postpone scheduled, less urgent treatments - like in the previous Covid waves.
At the peak of the pandemic in January 2021, more than 5,700 Corona patients were receiving intensive care treatment.
The Statista graph below shows the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care in Germany throughout the crisis up to October 26th.
Source: Statista
READ ALSO: Germany sees steep rise in Covid cases
The president of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, told the Augsburger Allgemeine on Thursday that those eligible for vaccination who do not get their jabs now are risking their lives, and those of others. "We must try everything in our power to increase vaccination rates," he said.
"With high vaccination coverage of the population, there are many more mild courses (of Covid-19) - they don't need to go to hospital, but many unvaccinated people still fall seriously ill."
Experts have also flagged up staff shortages, in part because of doctors and nurses leaving intensive care medicine due to being overburdened in the pandemic.
Concerns about younger people
In view of the increased Covid rates, especially in younger age groups, paediatricians are pushing for rapid Covid-19 vaccinations for under 12-year-olds.
"We are hoping that in the next few weeks there will be a European approval of the BioNTech vaccine for the age group of five to 11-year-olds, which will then also be adopted in Germany," said the President of the German Society for Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Jörg Dötsch.
He said the German government could then advise this age group to get vaccinated, even without an explicit recommendation by the Standing Commission on Vaccination (STIKO). The STIKO recommendation for 5-11 year-olds could then follow in the following weeks after a detailed examination of the data on side effects, Dötsch said.
This scenario happened earlier this year with older children. Now both the government and STIKO recommends that everyone over the age of 12 gets the jab.
According to RKI data from Thursday, 66.5 percent of people in Germany are fully vaccinated.
Against the backdrop of rising cases, Germany is discussing letting the pandemic 'state of emergency' expire on November 25th.
However, the parties in talks to form a new government - the Social Democrats, Greens and FDP, said on Wednesday they want to form a new legal basis for German states to keep Covid measures in place until March 20th, 2022.
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On Thursday Germany reported 28.037 Covid-19 infections in the 24 hours - nearly 12,000 more than a week ago when 16,077 new cases were logged. During the same time period there were 126 Covid-related deaths - the highest number of deaths since June.
The 7-day incidence jumped to 130.2 Covid cases per 100,000 people on Thursday from 118 the previous day. A week ago the incidence was 85.6.
Die 7-Tage-#Corona-Inzidenz in 🇩🇪 macht einen großen Satz, von 118,0 auf 130,2.@welt pic.twitter.com/A6vBbF9VQ6
— Olaf Gersemann (@OlafGersemann) October 28, 2021
Now health experts are sounding the alarm about the situation in hospitals - and are urging people to get vaccinated.
Chairman of the board of the German Hospital Association, Gerald Gaß, said "We are in a critical pandemic situation."
Gaß said that the number of patients hospitalised with a Covid infection had risen significantly within a week.
The German Intensive Care register (DIVI) showed that 1,768 Covid-19 patients were in ICU across Germany on October 27th, with 918 receiving ventilation treatment. Doctors say the majority of patients are unvaccinated. There are almost 4,300 Covid patients in regular hospital wards across Germany, reported DPA.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) recorded the 7-day incidence of hospitalised cases as 3.07 per 100,000 population on Wednesday - up from 2.13 last Tuesday.
"If this trend continues, we will have 3,000 patients in intensive care again in just two weeks," Gaß said.
"Even if the hospitals can manage this, it will then not be possible without restricting regular operations," said the head of the association. It means that doctors in hospitals may have to postpone scheduled, less urgent treatments - like in the previous Covid waves.
At the peak of the pandemic in January 2021, more than 5,700 Corona patients were receiving intensive care treatment.
The Statista graph below shows the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care in Germany throughout the crisis up to October 26th.
Source: Statista
READ ALSO: Germany sees steep rise in Covid cases
The president of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, told the Augsburger Allgemeine on Thursday that those eligible for vaccination who do not get their jabs now are risking their lives, and those of others. "We must try everything in our power to increase vaccination rates," he said.
"With high vaccination coverage of the population, there are many more mild courses (of Covid-19) - they don't need to go to hospital, but many unvaccinated people still fall seriously ill."
Experts have also flagged up staff shortages, in part because of doctors and nurses leaving intensive care medicine due to being overburdened in the pandemic.
Concerns about younger people
In view of the increased Covid rates, especially in younger age groups, paediatricians are pushing for rapid Covid-19 vaccinations for under 12-year-olds.
"We are hoping that in the next few weeks there will be a European approval of the BioNTech vaccine for the age group of five to 11-year-olds, which will then also be adopted in Germany," said the President of the German Society for Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Jörg Dötsch.
He said the German government could then advise this age group to get vaccinated, even without an explicit recommendation by the Standing Commission on Vaccination (STIKO). The STIKO recommendation for 5-11 year-olds could then follow in the following weeks after a detailed examination of the data on side effects, Dötsch said.
This scenario happened earlier this year with older children. Now both the government and STIKO recommends that everyone over the age of 12 gets the jab.
According to RKI data from Thursday, 66.5 percent of people in Germany are fully vaccinated.
Against the backdrop of rising cases, Germany is discussing letting the pandemic 'state of emergency' expire on November 25th.
However, the parties in talks to form a new government - the Social Democrats, Greens and FDP, said on Wednesday they want to form a new legal basis for German states to keep Covid measures in place until March 20th, 2022.
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