"Wiesn wave" already felt in Munich's clinics?

"Dealing with a situation that could not be avoided"

Created: 2022-09-29Updated: 2022-09-29 2:12 PM

By: Bettina Menzel

The number of cases in Munich is increasing rapidly and there are increasing indications that the “Wiesn wave” is rolling in.

The Munich clinics and health workers have to pay for it.

Munich – It is the first Oktoberfest since the beginning of the corona pandemic.

So far there have been fewer visitors than in 2019 due to the cold, wet weather, but after eight days there were already over three million people from all over the world.

Hardly surprising for experts, the corona incidence in Munich has recently risen sharply.

With a delay of around two weeks, the "Wiesn wave" also spilled over into Munich's clinics, but they have the situation under control despite personnel challenges.

Corona incidence in Munich increases by 172 percent compared to the previous week

Intensive care workers transport a ventilated corona patient back to the intensive care unit in the University Hospital Bonn after a CT scan (archive image, 2020).

© picture alliance/dpa |

Rolf Vennenbernd

The seven-day incidence has already multiplied in the second week after the opening of the Oktoberfest in Munich: there were 695.8 confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the Bavarian capital on Thursday.

This comes from figures from the Robert Koch Institute and corresponds to an increase of more than 172 percent within one week.

A connection to the Oktoberfest cannot be proven, but it is obvious.

There had already been a similar development at other folk festivals - such as the Gäubodenfest in Straubing.

A city comparison between the incidences of Munich, Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main provides further evidence of a connection between Oktoberfest and the Corona wave.

The number of cases in Munich has increased disproportionately since the start of the celebrations compared to other large cities.

Oktoberfest wave: This is the situation in Munich's clinics

The increase in the number of corona was clear to everyone involved in the run-up to the Oktoberfest, according to the press office of the LMU Klinikum in Munich on Wednesday on a

-Inquiry.

"In addition, talks between the Munich health department and the clinics took place in advance.

Since there was a political and social desire to organize the Wiesn, we currently have to deal with this situation, it could not be prevented," said a spokeswoman.

At the moment, the increase in Covid patients is particularly evident in the general ward area, the intensive care units of the LMU Klinikum are currently only slightly loaded.

"At the end of the week, the incidences in Munich are expected to increase significantly due to the Wiesn," was the prognosis of the LMU Clinic.

"At the Gäubodenfest, the incidence increased by a factor of about four towards the end of the festival.

If you transfer this to the Munich situation, then we can expect incidence values ​​of around 800 to 1000 at the beginning of October."

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It is not unusual for more people to become infected with respiratory diseases in the autumn and winter months - including employees, a spokeswoman for the Klinikum Rechts der Isar told

.

"But we are not currently facing any acute overload and can continue to provide our patients with the best possible care at all times." However, it should be noted that the Covid 19 pandemic has particularly aggravated the staffing situation in the healthcare system, according to the Klinikum Rechts der Isar further.

The utilization of the intensive care areas is high regardless of Covid-19.

"At the University Hospital on the Right of the Isar we are currently treating a total of 50 patients with a SARS-CoV-2 infection, three of them in our intensive care units," the spokeswoman continued.

The Munich Clinic is currently treating around 120 patients in connection with Corona.

"Almost ten percent in intensive care and monitoring stations," said the press spokesman for the Munich clinic on Wednesday.

The number has increased compared to the previous week.

"The increasing incidence is reflected in the hospital admissions with a time delay of about two weeks, so if the incidence continues to rise, the number of treatments in the hospitals can also be expected to increase," says the Munich Clinic. The colleagues see it similarly of the LMU Klinikum: "An increased absence of employees due to illness and isolation after the Oktoberfest is to be expected.

It is currently not possible to predict whether this will lead to noticeable restrictions in regular operations.”