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Photo: Sven Döring / Agentur Focus / Sven Döring / DER SPIEGEL / Agentur Focus
The hospital in Olbernhau in the Ore Mountains looks deserted, a few cars are parked in the forecourt, nobody is to be seen.
Inside, behind the white facade, the corona virus is raging.
It has been claiming new deaths for weeks.
"The situation is very serious," says the doctor Armin Friedrich.
Only recently eight new patients were admitted.
"It's extremely stressful, also because the death rate is so high."
In normal times, the "Olbernhau House" is a classic clinic for the population of the small Saxon town and its surroundings.
Four stations, 90 beds, cafeteria in the entrance area.
But since the beginning of the pandemic, only Covid-19 patients have been treated here.
Initially, only ten beds were provided for corona patients, for months there were only a few infections in the Ore Mountains.
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Doctor Friedrich: "Many employees are infected or in quarantine."
Photo: Sven Döring / Agentur Focus / Sven Döring / DER SPIEGEL / Agentur Focus
Now the situation in the hospital is becoming more and more precarious.
45 patients are currently in the intensive care unit, two of whom need ventilation.
The strain on the staff is great.
"Caring for Covid-19 patients is more difficult and complex," says Friedrich.
"You have to be cared for in full protection."
"Many employees are infected or in quarantine."
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