Protective masks, glasses and gowns - doctors need protection against the corona virus. But many products are not available. More and more practices in Bavaria are closing down.
- Doctors are under pressure due to the corona crisis in Bavaria.
- Protective equipment such as protective masks, glasses and disposable gloves are missing in the practices.
- The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Bavaria (KVB) raises the alarm.
- Here you will find our guide to reporting and current case numbers in Bavaria as a map.
Munich - Our doctors are coming under increasing pressure because they are running out of protective masks. By the end of last week, around 60 practices had already shut down the company, the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Bavaria (KVB) announced on Monday.
"Two weeks ago, there were still individual cases that practices close, doctors are now increasingly announcing that they will close their practices," said a spokesman. No doctor could be expected to treat patients without adequate protective equipment. There is still a glaring lack of equipment in many of the approximately 18,000 practices in the Free State.
Corona crisis in Bavaria: Doctors run out of protective masks - KVB expresses itself
The KVB welcomed the announcement by the state government that it would now centrally organize the procurement and distribution of protective materials to clinics , medical practices and other facilities . "If a million protective masks are said to have arrived in Bavaria, the practices rightly expect that they will immediately receive a substantial portion of them." Psychotherapists should also receive masks.
So far, the KVB had also distributed material. For this purpose, individual batches with masks from the federal government's order arrived last week, the association said. In some cases, however, the necessary certification is missing, which should now be achieved retrospectively.
Corona virus in Bavaria: respiratory masks for everyone?
The federal government has now procured 20 million urgently needed respirators for the fight against the corona virus. They were delivered to countries and statutory health insurance associations for distribution to clinics, medical practices and nursing homes, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Health. Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder said that Siemens will also make one million masks available for the whole of Germany every week.
The Austrian government yesterday imposed a mouthguard requirement for supermarket purchases . Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that the masks will be distributed to customers in the markets so that all citizens receive the material. Homemade masks would also be accepted. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said that "maybe" is a useful addition to the hygiene rules. The Bavarian government also seems to have already considered such a measure, as Söder admits: "To be honest, we are also concerned with the idea." However, there are still no concrete plans.
Virologist Christian Drosten explains to the Germans why it makes sense to wear alternative protective masks. Virologist Alexander Kekulé also demands that everyone in public should wear surgical masks to protect others from coronavirus infection.
A few weeks ago
a pediatrician from Munich sounded the alarm
* - In her practice, protective clothing became increasingly scarce.
dpa / tz
* Merkur.de and tz.de are part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
