The number of coronavirus infections in the Munich district continues to rise. As reported by the health department, the infection was mild in almost all of those affected.
District - A disinfectant dispenser has also been set up in front of the ballroom of the district office at Maria-Hilf-Platz when district administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU) with his head of health office Dr. Gerhard Schmid asks for the coronavirus press conference there. At that time there were 17 attested patients on Monday afternoon in the Munich district, and the authorities noticed that the population needed clarification.
In view of the increasing number of cases and an “increasingly aggravating situation”, the health official has, as he says, positive news: one of the infected had come to the hospital with a 39 degree fever, the other infections were mild, according to the Office's knowledge. And Germany is not China, it is not Iran. Although there is currently no cure for the Covid 19 virus, the options for fighting symptoms are better in Germany: The average assumed death rate of three percent, as the figures show, is unrealistic in this country, says Schmid.
"Our telephones are no longer standing still"
But the head of the health department also shows that the 15 to 20 employees, including about ten doctors, who deal almost exclusively with the coronavirus epidemic, are working on the attack. "Our phones are no longer at a standstill," says Schmid. And it has been for about three weeks.
The authority must therefore prioritize; take care of the sick first, then the next contact person. Only then will other concerns come up. “We are doing the best we can to slow the rise in cases,” says Schmid. The hope: that spring will slow down the coronavirus like the flu every year.
District Administrator: Better to leave large events
A second doctor's office, where Schmid does not say, is close to closing after the one in Aying because there is an infection in the team.
District Administrator Göbel also communicates a mixture of serenity and concern. He refers to the recommendation of the Federal Ministry of Health to prefer large events to stay. “It is always problematic when a lot of people have close contact with one another,” he says. Nobody shakes hands at the press conference.
Recommendations for schools
The authority has issued recommendations for action to schools and kindergartens in the district to close the facility if it is visited by proven patients or direct contacts. Infections are followed by the search for these contacts - “logistically an insane challenge,” says Göbel.
And then there is the local election - exactly two weeks after the end of the carnival holiday, which corresponds to the incubation period of the virus that some people might have brought with them from their skiing holidays. But going to the polls is harmless if the hygiene rules that are now familiar are observed, says Göbel. However, some election workers would have concerns about why it could be that due to the lack of staff, results could be counted later than usual.
