It is getting full again in the intensive care units in Germany. The number of Covid-19 sufferers has already exceeded an important mark.
Berlin – With the increasing number of infections with Corona *, the situation in hospitals is becoming more tense again. For the first time since mid-June, the number of people with Covid-19 diseases in intensive care units is back at more than 1,000 – and winter is still ahead. One factor in particular is noticeable compared to the previous year.
The fourth corona wave is rolling, which can also be seen with a view of the intensive care units. In the Divi Register daily report from Sunday (August 29th, 2021), 1008 Covid 19 patients were reported in intensive care units, 485 of them had to be ventilated, reports the German Press Agency. Most recently, a value of over 1000 was recorded in the daily report from June 18 (1011). The low before the fourth wave flared up was 354 in the July 22nd report, and occupancy has been increasing again since then.
Corona situation in Germany: More Covid 19 patients in intensive care units
Compared to the previous year, it is noticeable that in 2020 it only became fuller again in the intensive care units much later. The number of Covid 19 patients in intensive care units on August 29, 2020 was just 241 (134 ventilated) and only rose to over 1000 at the end of October in the course of the second wave. The maximum value was a good 5700 at the beginning of January in the course of the second corona wave in Germany.
Another factor is also different compared to the previous year: the patients are significantly younger. In 2020, older people were mainly affected, according to the data of the Divi Register, almost every tenth Covid-19 patient currently treated in intensive care is 30 to 39 years old, and almost every fifth is 40 to 49 years old (as of August 26, update in each case Thursdays). The 50 to 59 year olds make up a good quarter of the patients, the 60 to 69 year olds a good fifth. Unvaccinated people are mostly affected by severe courses and deaths.
The number of Covid 19 patients in intensive care units will continue to rise
However, the occupancy in the intensive care units is not the same in every federal state. The proportion of Covid 19 sufferers in the total number of intensive care beds is currently particularly high in North Rhine-Westphalia (6.4 percent) and Saarland (5.3 percent). But there are also more corona patients and deaths in clinics in Hesse.
Even if the seven-day incidence of new infections did not increase or even decrease in the coming days, the number of Covid 19 patients treated in intensive care units would initially continue to increase. The incidence of infection is always reflected with a delay in clinic occupancy, because usually around 10 days pass between infection and admission.
Limit of 1000 Covid sufferers exceeded: Doctors expect moderate increase in September
Prof. Dr. Christian Karagiannidis, scientific director of the DIVI intensive care register, however, expects a rather moderate increase for September in view of the slightly lower increase in incidences. “Today we exceeded the limit of 1000 COVID19 patients in intensive care for the first time, but in view of the slightly lower increase in incidences, I expect a rather moderate increase in September. The weeks of truth come in Oct / Nov, ”the intensive care doctor tweeted. The Divi-Register is managed by the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine together with the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). (svw / dpa) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
List of rubric lists: © Kay Nietfeld / dpa
