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Corona: three times more Covid patients than a year ago - Munich clinics are sounding the alarm

2021-09-01T10:27:14.030Z


The development of the fourth corona wave does not bode well. Munich hospitals express their concern and call for vaccinations. Almost only the unvaccinated would become seriously ill.


The development of the fourth corona wave does not bode well.

Munich hospitals express their concern and call for vaccinations.

Almost only the unvaccinated would become seriously ill.

Munich - The fourth virus wave has reached Munich - faster and stronger than feared by doctors. In the large clinics of the state capital, the beds are increasingly filling with corona patients, both in normal and intensive care units. The two Munich hospital coordinators Viktoria Bogner-Flatz and Dominik Hinzmann confirmed this to our newspaper. They rate the increasing occupancy rates as "alarming" and speak of a "worrying development".

Noticeable: the fourth wave rolled in two months earlier than the second wave last autumn - in between was the third wave in spring.

“In the meantime, three times as many corona patients have to be treated in Munich clinics as exactly a year ago.

And that although this year, unlike last summer, a vaccination against the virus is available, ”analyze Bogner-Flatz and Hinzmann.


Fourth corona wave: Over 1000 corona patients in German intensive care units

The Corona coordinators did not provide exact occupancy numbers or details on the distribution of patients to the individual hospitals, according to information from our newspaper, around 100 patients are now being treated, primarily in the large university hospitals and in the Munich Clinic. On August 31, 2020, there were only about 30. According to the medical association DIVI, more than 1000 Covid patients are in intensive care units throughout Germany for the first time since June 18.

Against this background, experts fear an aggravation of the corona situation in the coming autumn and especially in winter.

Whether the fourth wave continues to gain momentum will primarily depend on whether the currently stagnating vaccination rate of around 60 percent can be increased significantly in the next few weeks.

Because it is already becoming clear that almost all corona patients in Munich's clinics have no vaccination protection.

“Vaccinated patients are extreme exceptions.

These are mostly people who were seriously ill before they were infected and who had a weakened immune system, ”reports Bogner-Flatz, head of the emergency department at the new portal clinic at the LMU clinic in the city center.

Fourth corona wave: Experts warn of infection by returning travelers

That is why the experienced emergency doctor again appeals to everyone - including younger people with a supposedly low risk profile - to get vaccinated against corona. “The only way out of this pandemic is through vaccination. If we do not increase the vaccination rate, the pandemic will be with us for much longer than we all hope. We have to be able to convince more people of the great benefits of vaccination, ”says Bogner-Flatz. At the same time, however, she admits that this work of persuasion is difficult to do in some cases. “In daily practice we are repeatedly confronted with vaccine skepticism or excuses. They may sound absurd at times, but unfortunately they are pretty stubborn in too many minds. "

This is another reason why experts warn that Corona could soon flare up again with undreamt-of strength. "Especially at the end of the holiday, when the wave of returning travelers reaches its peak, a further increase in the number of illnesses can be expected," predicts the German Society for Internal Medicine. Especially since the dominant delta variant is highly contagious - according to the US health authorities even as infectious as chickenpox. The good news about this: "Even with the Delta variant, the vaccination lowers the risk of infection by ten times and the risk of a severe course by more than a hundred times," emphasizes Markus Lerch, head of the LMU clinic. His advice: "Vaccinate who can!"

The fourth corona wave is sure to come. In Germany, the main discussion is how to deal with the increasing number of infections. Neighbor Austria is already further along.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-09-01

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