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One year pandemic - medical officer warns: "The long-term social consequences will keep us busy for a long time"

2021-03-05T12:07:57.561Z


The first corona infection in the district was officially confirmed on March 5, 2020. Since then, not only has public life completely changed, since then the district's health department has also been de facto in constant use. We spoke to the head of the health department, Dr. Stefan Günther spoke about the stresses and strains of the past twelve months.


The first corona infection in the district was officially confirmed on March 5, 2020.

Since then, not only has public life completely changed, since then the district's health department has also been de facto in constant use.

We spoke to the head of the health department, Dr.

Stefan Günther spoke about the stresses and strains of the past twelve months.

County

- Was that really only a year ago?

That cold, wet day at the beginning of March 2020, when it was clear: the Weilheim-Schongau district has its first corona patient.

"Time is racing," says Dr.

Stefan Günther, the head of the health department of the Weilheim-Schongau district, yesterday when he thinks back to that day.

Shortly before, he remembers, there was the faint hope that this whole Corona thing would end before it really started.

The first corona case in Germany had already occurred at the end of January - in Stockdorf in the neighboring district of Starnberg.

This was the beginning of an endless phase of stress for the district health department, remembers Günther.

Because some of the contact persons for patient 1 lived in the Weilheim-Schongau district.

“Suddenly we were busy tracking the contact chains,” he says.

At the same time, preparations began for a possible outbreak in the district.

"We sat together and thought about whether we should set up corona stations in the hospitals or not," said Günther.

Then March 5th comes and everything suddenly happens very quickly.

The number of infections is increasing, the workload in the health department is growing steadily.

"In retrospect, the first wave was smaller, but it made a lot more work," says the head of the health department.

At that time everything was missing.

In terms of personnel, material - protective equipment, masks, disinfectants, today of course available everywhere, back then, if at all, only available at moon prices.

Above all, there is a lack of knowledge.

Knowledge of the disease itself, routes of transmission, chains of infection.

The then 24 employees of the health department had to work out everything themselves.

The citizen hotline rings continuously and countless emails are received.

Question after question - those responsible do not know many of the answers themselves at this point.

"All of this overwhelmed us like a tsunami," says Günther clarified.

These are days that get down to business.

Days when the health department is growing faster and faster.

"We had great help from the HR department and the district administrator," says Günther.

All trainees are assigned to the health department, all departments send whoever they can somehow to free to the health department.

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The development of the number of infections during the last twelve months.

© Source: LRA

More and more employees are in action.

The Bundeswehr sends 21 men, the police twelve officers, and helpers from the state building authority or the tax office come on call.

At the height of the second wave, sometime in October, November, December - the days and months are blurred in the memory - 120 people work in the health department.

Some only come for a few weeks like the FOS interns.

They have to be trained.

When they're fit, they're gone again.

They all need a workplace, access to the system.

There are days when Günther realizes that he no longer knows everyone whose boss he is.

You did it.

The follow-up of the contact chains could be guaranteed continuously except for a few days.

That had its price: “Many of my employees worked seven days a week, from early in the morning until late at night.

That eats you up.

It has not left me unaffected either, it occupies me, is good for my health, ”says the head of the health department.

Over Christmas, they tried to give everyone two or three days off at a time.

“Nobody took a classic annual vacation with us last year,” the boss is certain.

How also: The employees of the health department also have a life outside of the persecution of the contact chains, have families, have children who, like everyone else, had to be looked after and trained at home during school closings.

What was possible on vacation was spent for most of them.

“I have tremendous respect for my people,” says Günther.

Nobody looked at the clock, the department had grown together even more in the past twelve months.

Even if the incidence numbers have fallen in recent weeks - the head of the health department does not want to give the all-clear.

"The incidence values ​​are not falling any further at the moment; instead, there has been a slight increase in the last few days," he warns.

And the easing that has already happened doesn't make tracking any easier.

"In the lockdown, when the schools were closed, we usually had one or two contact persons per infected person - now it's easily ten to 20."

Unpleasant truths that show that even a year after it broke out, the pandemic is far from over.

One of the unpleasant truths is that the health department has so much to do with Corona that many other "normal" tasks can currently hardly be managed.

"We only do the bare minimum - we always have a colleague assigned to monitor the drinking water," says Stefan Günther.

Much else lies fallow. What is particularly stressful for him is that there is currently no time for the entire social aspect of the work of the health department. "If you know what is happening in many households when your nerves are on edge and alcohol consumption is increasing," says Günther, "then you suspect that we will be preoccupied with the long-term social consequences of the current crisis for much longer than the actual pandemic." “The only silver lining” that he is currently making out “are the vaccinations. Only with their help will a return to normal life be possible. "

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-03-05

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