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Baby in a children's clinic (icon image)
Photo: Werner Krüper / imago images/teamwork
Thomas Fischbach fears that the tense situation in the children's hospitals will continue to worsen.
"We are in a dangerous situation for the children, especially for the little ones," said the president of the professional association of paediatricians in view of the overcrowded medical practices and children's clinics of the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung".
And it could get even worse: »Because normally at the beginning of December we are only at the beginning of the cold season.
So the peak of the infection wave is still ahead of us.«
Fischbach does not want to go back to the mask requirement: »The cry for masks is the usual reflex of politics.
The mask requirement for the past two years is an important reason for the current crisis," he said.
Because because of the masks, neither the children's nor the parents' immune systems were trained.
Many children's practices and children's wards are currently extremely overcrowded.
Experts are reporting an enormous wave of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections, which can be dangerous for babies.
Fischbach called the announcement by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) that nursing staff from the adult sector would be used to support pediatrics "insane".
The German Nursing Council was similarly critical.
"You can only describe it as an act of desperation," said DPR President Christine Vogler of the editorial network Germany.
»In the clinics, only the minimum care can already be secured.
We no longer have a ward where you can withdraw nurses.« Nurses from other clinical departments would not automatically have the qualifications for care in the pediatric intensive care unit either.
In view of the shortage of skilled workers in social and nursing professions, Vogler also advocated a compulsory social year for all school leavers in Germany.
"As a society, we have to come together again and learn that we have to devote more attention to the sick, children and the weak in the social system." This is shown not least by the current situation in the clinics, said Vogler.
kha/dpa
