Medical Association sounds the alarm: important corona measure "almost no longer takes place"

Created: 12/25/2021Updated: 12/25/2021, 10:30 AM

From: Lukas Rogalla

The follow-up of contacts by the health authorities almost no longer takes place.

The officials have reached their limits.

© Hannes P. Albert / dpa

In the corona pandemic, the health authorities are reaching their limits - this leads to gaps in contact tracking, complains an expert.

Frankfurt / Düsseldorf - Shortly before the end of the year, the Omikron variant of the coronavirus * is on the rise.

Virologists fear a significant increase in the number of cases, since B.1.1.529 is considered to be far more contagious than the delta variant.

In particular, the observations that the approved corona vaccines * are only partially effective against Omikron are cause for concern.

Now a medical association is sounding the alarm.

A measure that was declared to be extremely important at the beginning of the corona pandemic is increasingly being forgotten or can hardly be taken into account due to a lack of capacities in the health authorities.

Corona in Germany: Omikron could ensure an increasing number of cases

The health authorities in Germany are hardly able to keep up with their work in the corona pandemic.

This also leads to gaps in contact tracing, said Ute Teichert, federal chairwoman of the doctors of the public health service, the editorial network Germany (RND).

“At the moment there is almost no comprehensive follow-up any more.” Several countries such as Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg or Berlin have even completely suspended the search for contact persons.

They trust that people will inform themselves what to do in the event of a positive corona test result or risk contact.

A spokeswoman for the Berlin health administration rejected Teichert's statement.

"The representation that Berlin is one of the federal states in which the health authorities no longer guarantee contact tracking in the context of the corona pandemic is incorrect," she said.

The Berlin health authorities would follow up the contacts in accordance with the guidelines of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The Bundeswehr is also deployed in eight health offices.

Corona in Germany: shortage of staff in health authorities

Teichert further told the RND that the permanently tense situation in the health authorities due to Corona is also exacerbating the shortage of personnel: "Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have been observing not only fluctuation, but also an escape of staff from the health authorities," she said. A comparatively poor pay is also to blame for this. "There is a significant pay gap that makes working in the health department unattractive."

Health politician Janosch Dahmen von den Grünen * is concerned about the lack of contact tracking, especially with a view to the Omikron variant of the corona virus.

"It can spread rapidly without you noticing it in time," he told the RND.

It is important that contact persons are informed and can be tested.

"If we do not notice early on that the actual number of cases is increasing, politicians will not be able to respond appropriately," he warned.

In addition, many health departments are not staffed continuously on the Christmas holidays.

The number of corona cases, which are otherwise transmitted to the RKI every day, may not fully reflect the infection rate.

So the number of cases fell now * at Christmas.

(lrg / dpa) *

Meanwhile, the federal and state governments are calling for quick action against the Omikron variant of the coronavirus - some politicians are warning of failures in the critical infrastructure.