The corona numbers are increasing. Although most infections are mild, the wave is now reaching hospitals. The first doctors are already reporting that operations have been postponed, and staff shortages are exacerbating the situation. The corona situation in the clinic number check.
The Omikron autumn wave is just rolling in, confirmed Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach in the press conference on Thursday. The number of new infections is increasing almost everywhere.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gives the nationwide seven-day incidence at 462. For comparison: In the previous month there were still 219. In addition, there is a high number of unreported cases. Experts have been assuming for some time that by far not all infected people take a PCR test.
So what is the actual situation? This can be seen in the clinics, for example.
The situation on the normal wards can vary greatly from region to region. But the data from the German Hospital Society (DKG) shows a drastic increase across Germany.
According to this, the number of patients who tested positive for corona in the normal wards rose by 51.7 percent compared to the previous week (as of October 5). Important: This does not automatically mean that they have to be treated for Corona, but they have tested positive.
The strongest increase was reported in Saarland (82.8 percent), Bavaria (70.1 percent) and Schleswig-Holstein (69.7 percent). Only in Hamburg did the proportion of people treated with Covid 19 remain the same. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania remains a blank spot on the Corona map, so to speak. Because since June 1, 2022, the occupancy figures are no longer collected there and are therefore no longer included in the nationwide results.
In real numbers: Around 17,397 patients who tested positive for corona are currently being treated in a clinic (previous day: 15,804), a little more than 16,000 of them in the normal ward (previous day: 14,600). So the numbers are increasing significantly, but the number of corona patients in clinics is currently only around 3.5 percent of the total number of hospital beds. If the clinics are full, this is also due to other illnesses such as the flu, which will also increase as winter approaches.
A report on everyday life in corona intensive care units
But the number of corona patients who have to be treated in intensive care is also increasing noticeably. The number has doubled across Germany since mid-September.
A good 1,300 corona patients are currently being treated in intensive care, a week ago there were 858 patients and two weeks ago 705 patients. The number is still well below the values for January, April or March last year.
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But: With a general growth of 54.3 percent compared to the previous week, the dynamics in the intensive care units are even a little higher than in the normal wards. According to data from the DKG, those most affected are
In Bavaria “only” an increase of 48.2 percent was recently reported, but since the beginning of the Oktoberfest it has been a clear 144 percent. Hamburg was the only federal state to record a decline (13.0 percent). There are no data from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
According to Divi, around 18,099 people currently have to be treated in intensive care. 2483 intensive care beds are still free. However, the capacities vary greatly from region to region.
This is shown by looking at the intensive care beds that are still available in the individual federal states. In Bremen, Berlin and Hesse it is less than ten percent. Saarland, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt are only slightly higher.
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To explain: On average, an intensive care unit has ten to twelve beds. An availability of ten percent therefore means a free bed. If the proportion falls below this, there is no longer a free bed to treat emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes, accident victims or corona emergencies.
The first doctors are also sounding the alarm: “The current corona situation in Munich is disastrous, the number of corona patients is increasing – as was to be expected – extremely quickly,” says Professor Bernhard Heindl from the university clinics in Munich when asked about FOCUS online. The number of sick employees is also “high”. Heindl: “There are restrictions on planned surgeries and in individual cases wards are closed. The situation in the emergency rooms in Munich is very tense.”
Pulmonary specialist Cihan Çelik from the Darmstadt Clinic draws a similar picture: “The Covid dynamic continues to pick up speed,” writes the head of the Corona normal ward on Twitter and reports an increase from 21 to 70 inpatient corona patients within just twelve days. What can be planned must already be postponed. “The wishful thinking about the end of the pandemic is dissolving here,” summarizes the doctor.
So what to do? Vaccination is still considered the best protection against a severe course. Also for new variants. Experts are currently warning in particular of the spread of BQ.1.1. It is true that no final statements can yet be made about the effectiveness of the vaccinations in relation to BQ.1.1. However, since BQ.1.1 is a BA.5 offspring, experts consider the vaccine adapted to it to be the most sensible. “So the BA.5 booster protects best,” writes biochemist and Cambridge researcher Cornelius Römer.
After all, the vaccine adapted to BA.1 is better than that against the wild type, which in turn is better than none at all. In other words: Vaccination makes sense in any case, but according to Römer, the newer vaccines offer the best protection. “Looks like now is a pretty good time to get a booster.”
