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Germany sees record death toll on first day of new lockdown measures

Germany registered a record number of deaths from Covid-19 on Wednesday, the first day of a new partial lockdown to try and curb a surge in infections.

Published: 16 December 2020 08:44 CET
Germany sees record death toll on first day of new lockdown measures
An empty Covid-19 intensive station at a hospital in Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Photo: DPA

A total of 952 people died in the previous 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute disease control centre.

It said 27,728 new coronavirus cases were registered, a figure close to the daily record of infections reported on Friday.

READ ALSO: Covid-19 in Germany worse than ever 'due to carelessness', says public health boss

The previous daily record for fatalities was also reached Friday, when almost 600 people were reported to have died as the number of those in intensive care in the country reached alarming levels.

Some 83 percent of intensive care beds in hospitals were occupied on Wednesday, the Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) said.

The latest figures come as a new partial lockdown was imposed, with non-essential shops and schools closed in a bid to halt an “exponential growth” in infections.

The restrictions will apply until January 10, with companies also urged to allow employees to work from home or to offer extended company holiday.

The new measures were agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel with regional leaders of Germany's 16 states on Sunday.

Europe's largest economy had coped relatively well with the first wave in the spring but it has struggled to contain a resurgence in recent months.

Member comments

  1. Maybe that is an indicator that the lock-downs do more harm than good. The WHO also recommended against lock-downs, why are will still doing it?

  3. Nabarro, who was appointed in February as one of six special envoys tasked to deal with the coronavirus response, warned that national lockdowns are “a very extreme restriction on economic and social life” that temporarily “freezes the virus in place.”
    “The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganize, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we’d rather not do it.”
    This is the direct quote.WHO says lockdowns should only be used as a last resort.
    https://planetfreewill.news/who-special-envoy-on-covid-reiterates-caution-against-lockdowns-as-primary-virus-plan/
    “You don’t want to use those as your primary, and I stress that, primary, means of containment. Because in the end living with the virus as a constant threat means maintaining the capacity to find people with the disease and isolating them,” Nabarro said.

  4. I think the increase is as a result of the population who rushed to the shop on Monday and Tuesday to buy clothes, shoes, etc in preparation for Christmas. Everywhere was chuck ed up.

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STATISTICS

Norway saw fewer hospital patients in 2020 despite pandemic

Fewer patients were treated in hospital in 2020 than in 2019, with Covid-19 being the reason for the drop, according to Statistics Norway.

Published: 13 April 2021 16:25 CEST
Norway saw fewer hospital patients in 2020 despite pandemic
Illustration photo by Audun Braastad / AFP)

The decline in patients has been largest for those awaiting planned treatments, but the number of people requiring immediate attention also dropped too, according to Statistics Norway figures.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals had to prioritise differently in 2020 as a result of the increased need for intensive care units.

“2020 was a year marked by pandemics and restrictions. In many places hospitals have had to prioritise differently due to the coronavirus, and perhaps particularly as the result of the increased need for intensive care,” the report said.

This has contributed to a decrease in the number of patients in hospitals at all levels of care.

The number of patients with 24-hour stays decreased by 7 percent. The total number of days spent in hospital fell by 11 percent or 380,000 fewer days in a hospital bed in 2020 compared to 2019.

Hospital stays lasting at least 24 hours include both planned and unplanned visits. In 2020 planned visits accounted for 29 percent of all visits, which is a decrease of 16 percent from the previous year, while visits for immediate appointments decreased by 3 percent.

READ ALSO: Norwegian senior medic calls for geographical division of Covid-19 restrictions

The figures show a decline for almost all diagnostic groups, but cancer patients had a smaller decline than other groups.

Planned treatment of various forms of cancer decreased by 8 percent, but acute help for tumours saw an increase of 11 percent.

This reverses a trend of numbers of patients in hospitals increasing year on year. The increases had primarily been driven by patients at outpatient clinics.

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