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COVID-19

Covid surge: The German districts running out of intensive care beds

The number of Covid patients being admitted to intensive care units across Germany is rising - and 33 districts have run out of free beds. Here's a look at the situation in hospitals.

An intensive care station in Leipzig on November 8th.
An intensive care station in Leipzig on November 8th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Waltraud Grubitzsch

German hospitals and medics are struggling due to the number of Covid-19 patients needing treatment. 

Some intensive care units are already full, while other hospitals are having to cancel planned operations in order to divert staff to critical wards. 

The latest data shows about 14 percent of intensive care beds are still available nationwide. And in 33 districts not a single bed is free. In some regions, more than 50 percent of the beds in ICUs are occupied by Covid-19 patients, illustrating why medical staff have been raising the alarm. 

The DIVI intensive care register reported about 3,280 Covid 19 patients in intensive care units across Germany on Monday. This makes up around 15 percent of the occupied ICU beds.

For comparison, around 1,768 Covid-19 patients were in intensive care wards across Germany on October 27th. 

Of the Covid patients in German ICUs, just over 50 percent require ventilation treatment.

The nationwide hospitalisation incidence stands at 4.96 Covid patients per 100,000 people. The highest hospitalisation incidence was around 15.5 and was recorded in the second wave in Christmas time last year. 

Most of the districts where intensive care beds are running out are in Bavaria, which declared a state of emergency last week and has tightened its Covid rules to try and control the spread. 

READ ALSO: 2G rules – How Bavaria is tightening restrictions on the unvaccinated

The map by the Robert Koch Institute shows the situation regarding free intensive care beds in Germany. The areas coloured red are critical. Screenshot: RKI

Medical experts have been warning that patients in some ares are at times having to wait for hours to receive treatment, or have to try another hospital. 

SPD health politician Karl Lauterbach said he predicted that in the coming weeks people will have to be flown by helicopter to other federal states to receive intensive care treatment. 

“With the number of cases we have at the moment, hospitals across the country will reach capacity in the first two weeks of December,” Lauterbach said.

In total, around 21,344 of the 24,796 intensive care beds in Germany are currently occupied.

According to the DIVI register, these are the districts in Germany that do not have any free intensive care beds:

Aichach-Friedberg district (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 13 out of 13
Covid patients: 38.5 percent – 5
of which are ventilated: 4

Alzey-Worms (Rhineland-Palatinate)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 7 out of 7
Covid patients: 0 percent – 0

Augsburg (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 12 of 12
Covid patients: 66.7 percent – 8
Of which are ventilated: 2

Berchtesgadener Land district (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 18 of 18
Covid patients: 22.2 percent – 4
Of which are ventilated: 3

Biberach (Baden-Württemberg)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 16 of 16
Covid patients: 31.3 percent – 5
Of which are ventilated: 3

Cham (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 15 of 15
Covid patients: 66.7 percent – 10
Of which are ventilated: 5

Dachau (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 per cent – 18 of 18
Covid patients: 22.2 per cent – 4
Of which are ventilated: 3

Darmstadt-Dieburg (Hesse)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 26 of 26
Covid patients: 38.5 percent – 10
Of which are ventilated: 8

Dillingen an der Donau (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 27 of 27
Covid patients: 37 percent – 10
Of which are ventilated: 4

Ebersberg (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 18 of 18
Covid patients: 33.3 percent – 6
Of which are ventilated: 2

City district Frankfurt (Oder)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 12 of 12
Covid patients: 41.7 percent – 5
Of which are ventilated: 3

Freudenstadt (Baden-Württemberg)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 6 of 6
Covid patients: 33.3 percent – 2
Of which are ventilated: 0

Fürstenfeldbruck (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 10 out of 10
Covid patients: 50 percent – 5
Of which are ventilated: 4

City district of Gera (Thuringia)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 44 out of 44
Covid patients: 38.6 percent – 17
Of which are ventilated: 5

Gifhorn (Lower Saxony)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 12 of 12
Covid patients: 33.3 percent – 4
Of which are ventilated: 3

Greiz (Thuringia)

Occupied beds: 100 per cent – 10 out of 10
Covid patients: 30 per cent – 3
Of which are ventilated: 2

Kelheim (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 14 out of 14
Covid patients: 50 percent – 7
Of which are ventilated: 2

Kitzingen (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 8 of 8
Covid patients: 37.5 percent – 3
Of which are ventilated: 0

Haßberge (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 6 of 6
Covid patients: 66.7 percent – 4
Of which are ventilated: 1

Hildburghausen (Thuringia)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 6 of 6
Covid patients: 66.7 percent – 4
Of which are ventilated: 4

Hochtaunuskreis district (Hesse)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 24 of 24
Covid patients: 16.7 percent – 4
Of which are ventilated: 3

Lüchow-Dannenberg (Lower Saxony)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 7 of 7
Covid patients: 28.6 percent – 2
Of which are ventilated: 2

Mainz-Bingen (Rhineland-Palatinate)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 12 of 12
Covid patients: 8.3 percent – 1
Of which are ventilated: 0

Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 22 of 22
Covid patients: 40.9 percent – 9
Of which are ventilated: 5

Osterholz (Lower Saxony)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 10 out of 10
Covid patients: 30 percent – 3
Of which are ventilated: 2

Rastatt (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 10 out of 10
Covid patients: 0 percent – 0

Saale-Orla (Thuringia)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 3 of 3
Covid patients: 0 percent – 0

Schwabach (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 5 of 5
Covid patients: 40.0 percent – 2
Of which are ventilated: 0

Sömmerda (Thuringia)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 4 out of 4
Covid patients: 25 percent – 1
Of which are ventilated: 1

Unterallgäu (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 14 of 14
Covid patients: 57.1 percent – 8
Of which are ventilated: 5

Neu-Ulm (Bavaria)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 18 of 18
Covid patients: 44.4 percent – 8
Of which are ventilated: 2

Waldshut (Baden-Württemberg)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 10 out of 10
Covid patients: 20 percent – 2
Of which are ventilated: 1

Wittmund (Lower Saxony)

Occupied beds: 100 percent – 8 out of 8
Covid patients: 0 percent – 0

Please keep in mind that these figures can change rapidly. 

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HEALTH

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

It’s back again: amid sinking temperatures, the incidence of Covid-19 has been slowly rising in Germany. But is this enough to merit worrying about the virus?

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

More people donning face masks in supermarkets, friends cancelling plans last minute due to getting sick with Covid-19. We might have seen some of those familiar reminders recently that the coronavirus is still around, but could there really be a resurgence of the virus like we experienced during the pandemic years?

According to virologists, the answer seems to be ‘maybe’: since July, the number of people newly infected with Covid-19 has been slowly rising from a very low level.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), nine people per 100,000 inhabitants became newly infected in Germany last week. A year ago, there were only around 270 reported cases.

Various Corona variants are currently on the loose in the country. According to the RKI,  the EG.5 (also called Eris) and XBB.1.16 lines were each detected in the week ending September 3rd with a share of just under 23 percent. 

The highly mutated variant BA.2.86 (Pirola), which is currently under observation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), also arrived in the country this week, according to RKI. 

High number of unreported case

The RKI epidemiologists also warned about a high number of unreported cases since hardly any testing is done. They pointed out that almost half of all registered sewage treatment plants report an increasing viral load in wastewater tests.

The number of hospital admissions has also increased slightly, but are still a far cry from the occupation rate amid the pandemic. Last week it was two per 100,000 inhabitants. In the intensive care units, only 1.2 percent of all beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Still, a good three-quarters (76.4 percent) of people in Germany have been vaccinated at least twice and thus have basic immunity, reported RKI. 

Since Monday, doctors’ offices have been vaccinating with the adapted vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer, available to anyone over 12 years old, with a vaccine for small children set to be released the following week and one for those between 5 and 11 to come out October 2nd.

But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has so far only recommended that people over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions get vaccinated.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who should get a Covid jab this autumn in Germany?

“The pandemic is over, the virus remains,” he said. “We cannot predict the course of coming waves of corona, but it is clear that older people and people with pre-existing conditions remain at higher risk of becoming severely ill from Covid-19”

The RKI also recommended that people with a cold voluntarily wear a mask. Anyone exhibiting cough, cold, sore throat or other symptoms of a respiratory illness should voluntarily stay at home for three to five days and take regular corona self-tests. 

However, further measures such as contact restrictions are not necessary, he said.

One of many diseases

As of this autumn, Covid-19 could be one of many respiratory diseases. As with influenza, there are no longer absolute infection figures for coronavirus.

Saarbrücken pharmacist Thorsten Lehr told German broadcaster ZDF that self-protection through vaccinations, wearing a mask and getting tested when symptoms appear are prerequisites for surviving the Covid autumn well. 

Only a new, more aggressive mutation could completely turn the game around, he added.

On April 7th of this year, Germany removed the last of its over two-year long coronavirus restrictions, including mask-wearing in some public places.

READ ALSO: German doctors recommend Covid-19 self-tests amid new variant

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