Corona continues to spread in Germany: Health Minister Spahn makes one sentence. What are we facing?
- The federal government sees a "new situation" with the increased occurrence of the virus in Italy and new distribution channels in Europe.
- Ministers in NRW and Baden-Württemberg see the situation as being under control.
- But a sentence by Spahn makes you listen.
Berlin / Düsseldorf / Stuttgart - At various press conferences, authorities swore on Wednesday to keep people in Germany calm. The situation regarding the coronavirus * is currently under control - the infected people are isolated, possible distribution channels are being analyzed and contact persons are being identified and - if necessary - placed under domestic quarantine.
The big advantage is that one does not have to deal with unrecognized circulating infection chains, but with individual cases, the distribution of which could be traced.
But even if panic and fear are certainly not good advice, some experts paint a picture that makes you listen. Karl Lauterbach, health expert at the SPD , points out three weak points in the German health system:
The three weaknesses of our health care system are the number of nurses, general practitioners and doctors in health offices. Therefore, we are honestly not well prepared for a strong Covid outbreak. No preparation changes anything https://t.co/Zmoc7qHrxH
- Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) February 26, 2020The number of nurses, general practitioners and doctors in health offices is too small for a strong outbreak of Covid-19 , as the corona virus is now known by experts, according to Lauterbach.
Corona virus in Germany: experts argue - Spahn becomes clear
With the strengthening of the virus in some neighboring countries, the federal government also sees a "new situation", as government spokesman Seibert is quoted by tagesschau.de. The virus has come closer, said Seibert in Berlin.
"The corona epidemic has arrived in Germany," said Spahn on ZDF. "And we have to reckon with the fact that it can also spread in Germany." In ZDF today, he said that the chains of distribution had so far been controlled. But: "It may be that we will find ourselves in a different situation in the next few days and weeks."
Then it could look completely different. The cases in Italy have shown that democratic countries are now struggling to contain the virus, writes Die Zeit.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Spahn said that Germany was "at the beginning of a coronavirus epidemic" *. In a conference call, he asked the health ministers of the federal states to "activate their pandemic plans and prepare for their possible entry into force," Spahn said in Berlin on Wednesday. "The situation has changed in the past few hours, unfortunately you have to say that," added the minister. No pandemic has yet broken out - "but I think it's important that we prepare for this situation".
Against the background of the new corona virus cases * in Germany, it is "questionable" whether the previous strategy of the authorities is working - that is, to limit the virus * and to interrupt the infection chains. It has been shown that the "infection chains are sometimes not understandable," said Spahn. "This is the new quality." He added: "The likelihood that this epidemic will pass Germany will not arise."
Coronavirus: Virologist raises the alarm in daily topics
Alexander Kekulé, virologist at the University Clinic in Halle, raised the alarm in the daily topics: "If we have 100, 200, 300 cases, the hospitals in Germany are overwhelmed". The high infection centers , which currently still treat all patients, would only have 60 places in total - throughout Germany.
For the staff in normal hospitals , treating coronavirus patients is a major psychological burden. He has no understanding for measures such as stopping trains or sealing off borders because there are too many distribution channels - it is a matter of quickly identifying individual cases within the country and "letting out a smoldering cigarette before they cause a forest fire ."
List of rubric lists: © pictur e alliance / dpa / Christophe Gateau