D.he number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care treatment has risen again in Germany. It is currently at 2420, as shown in the intensive care register of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (DIVI). 1260 Covid patients are currently being ventilated invasively. This means that the situation in German hospitals is roughly at the same level as at the end of May this year. On the reporting date exactly one year ago, 2,647 Covid-19 patients were counted in intensive care treatment, so only slightly more than at the present time. At that time, due to the high values, the so-called lockdown light was first proclaimed to relax the situation.
“Although the vaccination rate is currently slowing the increase in intensive care bed occupancy, the numbers continue to follow the rising incidence,” a DIVI spokesman told the FAZ on Friday. The number of operational intensive care beds was also lower than last autumn due to the lack of staff. “So the situation is already tense at the moment – and we are only just at the beginning of the winter season. “
Most of the Covid 19 patients in intensive care are currently in the populous federal states of Bavaria (534) and North Rhine-Westphalia (400). The values are lowest in Bremen (19), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (20) and Schleswig-Holstein (21). However, some districts no longer have any free intensive care beds. Areas in the south and east of Germany are particularly affected.
No relaxation in sight
Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow is therefore concerned. “In the next few days we will come to the situation that we no longer have enough intensive care beds,” said the left-wing politician to ZDF. “We have a pandemic of the unvaccinated. And we will no longer be able to guarantee anyone who comes to the hospital unvaccinated that they will still be treated in Thuringia at all. ”Anyone who needs help will get it. That can be guaranteed: “But then he will no longer be able to get them in Thuringian hospitals.”
At DIVI, it is not initially assumed that the numbers will stagnate anytime soon. “In view of the increasing incidence in the coming week, we expect a further increase in Covid patients in intensive care units,” said a spokesman. The overload can be counteracted above all by vaccination and booster vaccination. “We consider these instruments to be an extremely important part of fighting the pandemic and protecting high-risk groups.”
In view of the increasing number of infections, the spokesman for the executive federal government, Steffen Seibert, called on Wednesday for more vaccinations, booster vaccinations and test specifications in nursing homes. Everyone should do their utmost to ensure that winter does not bring unnecessary suffering, said Seibert. The development with a sudden increase in the number of cases and an escalation in the hospital burden in some regions is “very worrying”.
The number of deaths has risen again in the past few weeks. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 154 deaths on Friday alone. This value can also increase as there are usually late registrations. The RKI also breaks down the death numbers by calendar weeks, which also include late registrations. However, these publications are always time-shifted accordingly; and thus give an insight into the development of the recent past. The last published values of this type come from calendar week 41, which ran from October 11th to 17th. During this time, 381 Covid-19 deaths were recorded in Germany, one and a half times more than in mid-October 2020.
The RKI also breaks down the age structure of the deaths. So it can be foreseen that most of the dead were older than 60 years. Above all, those who were between 80 and 89 years old died of Covid-19.
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