Doctors in Germany fighting second wave of virus fear successful strategy is falling apart
Germany, a country praised for its fast approach to the pandemic, is fighting a second wave of coronavirus infections, the head of a doctors’ organisation said on Tuesday.
“We are already in a second, flat surge,” the chairwoman of the Marburg Federation trade union told the newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine.
Dr Susanne Johna said hospitals were prepared for a new surge in infections but should continue to admit non-coronavirus cases rather than keeping premises on standby, as happened when the virus first appeared in the country.
Germany has about 21,000 intensive care beds, of which 12,200 are unoccupied. On Monday, about 270 Covid-19 patients were being treated in intensive care, of whom 130 were on ventilators.
“Because the pandemic is slowly building up, we have to provide graduated treatment options for Covid-19 patients, so we have to introduce a staggered timing,” Dr Johna said.
Germany has recorded more than 213,000 infections and at least 9,242 people there have died of Covid-19. But the country has been lauded for its handling of the crisis, for quickly imposing a strict lockdown and launching an effective track-and-trace system.
It has recorded significantly fewer deaths from the virus than other western European countries including France, Italy, Spain and the UK. But unrest is growing in major cities including the capital Berlin, where thousands of people this week protested against safety measures such as the wearing of face masks in public.
Dr Johna said Germany’s early success at handling the coronavirus may be undone in a second wave.
“There is a danger that we will lose the successes that we have achieved in Germany so far in a combination of repression and longing for normality,” she said.
“We all long for normality. But we are in a state that is not normal.”
She said that in the absence of a vaccine, the spread of Covid-19 could be curtailed only through social distancing, hygiene, constant mask use and the imposition of local quarantines when necessary.
“Many people in Germany have already died from the coronavirus,” Dr Johna said.
“It’s not just a matter of life and death. Many people will be left with permanent damage. They will be limited in their everyday lives because their lungs or kidneys are no longer working so well. Incidentally, this also applies to younger patients.”
Doctors in other European countries, including France and Italy, are preparing for a second surge of infections.
In Spain, parts of the Catalonia region were placed back into lockdown after thousands of new cases were reported in recent weeks. In response, the British government said anyone travelling to the UK from the country must spend two weeks in isolation.
Some parts of Scotland and northern England imposed local lockdowns after rising rates of infection raised fears of a second surge.
Researchers said Britain must improve its coronavirus tracing programme amid concern that a second wave of Covid-19 could be twice as bad as the first.