Berlin is preparing for a significant increase in the number of coronavirus infections. Start the central one Procurement of protective equipmentHealth Senator Dilek Kalayci said on Monday in the House Health Committee. Since these goods are in short supply across Europe, it is necessary to check what is available on the market. In addition, the hospitals are in the process of creating more capacities for the ventilation of seriously ill patients, said the SPD politician. “We need more ventilation options.” There are currently a good 1,000 such beds.
Kalayci said that nobody can say anything about the extent and pace of the further virus spread. The situation is highly dynamic. All in all The number of demonstrably infected people in the capital has now risen to 48, a small number of these have so far been treated in the hospital. However, the number of seriously ill patients will probably increase. In general, the situation is considered serious. The new lung disease Covid-19 also brings with it many imponderables.
Kalayci said they wanted to continue to pursue the strategy of containment nationwide: Identify positive cases quickly, find contact persons and isolate them Interrupt chains of infection. Berlin, however, went into a second phase early on and looked at vulnerable groups. Vaccination against pneumococci and whooping cough was recommended for the chronically ill and the elderly. They hope that this will be implemented by general practitioners across the board, Kalayci said. Protection against lung diseases will be crucial for mortality from the new virus, for yet no vaccine available is.
Kalayci described the need for the purchase of protective materials. Hospitals still had stocks ranging from a few weeks to months. Equipment is already available from the inventory, for example for the public health service. The Senate, however, was not responsible for equipping resident doctors, the SPD politician emphasized.
Of the protective equipment to be purchased According to Kalayci, the driving service of Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV) and fire brigade for very sick patients and the examination centers for suspected cases. The Federal Government’s crisis team announced last week that the Ministry of Health would like to procure protective equipment such as breathing masks and special suits centrally for medical practices and clinics.
Kalayci Berlin is well positioned with regard to the test options. You start from one Capacity of 1500 tests a day from, this could still be expanded. The Charité opened a test center last Tuesday so that suspected cases can be tested outside the emergency room. An expansion of these centers is probably necessary, according to Kalayci. “The number of cases will increase so that we will also need this infrastructure.” (dpa)
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