Germany already struggling with second wave of coronavirus outbreak, say doctors' union

The head of the German doctors’ union said in a newspaper interview that Germany is already struggling with the second wave of coronavirus outbreak. As per Johns Hopkins University tally, Germany has till now recorded 212,339 cases of COVID-19 and over 9,100 deaths but the number of daily cases has drastically spiked up in the recent weeks. This has further raised concerns among health experts that it poses a great risk of squandering the success achieved in the early stages with people defying the social distancing measures. 

Susanne Johna, president of Marburger Bund, that represents German doctors, told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper that “we are already in a second, shallow upswing”. She also noted that the people’s longingness of returning to normal life and get rid of the containment measures would take the work that German health professionals have achieved till now in response to COVID-19 pandemic. Johna has urged people to follow the containment measures including staying indoors, maintaining personal hygiene and wearing masks. 

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Germany avoided surge in COVID-19 cases

Unlike other European countries like France and Italy, Germany has avoided a huge number of deaths due to COVID-19 comparatively. Europe’s biggest economy reportedly owes its success in containing the outbreak to widespread testing, a well-equipped healthcare system and also a good adherence to social distancing. According to the data from Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for August 4, the number of cases in Germany has increased by 879 while the death toll rose by eight. 

The head of the German doctors’ union said that the hospitals in the country were geared up and would make intensive care beds available to the COVID-19 patients on a staggered basis. However, at the same time, they reduced the number of planned admissions to normal wards. As per the DIVI intensive care register, there are reportedly 21,000 intensive care beds in entire Germany and out of them, at least 12,200 are vacant. 

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(With inputs from agency)

Image: AP