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Coronavirus. Germany: Sanepid at the limit. There is a shortage of employees

  • Arne Zels is a business psychologist, he conducts training for volunteers. He is currently on sabbatical to help health authorities during the pandemic
  • However, some health authorities in Germany have reached their limits. The German health ministry has confirmed that it has received nine notifications from public health authorities that they have too few employees
  • – Berlin health authorities have not had enough employees for years. I’ve always said that when we have a serious situation, the health departments won’t be able to deal with it. And now it has turned out – says Neukoeln Falko Liecke, councilor in Berlin
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Arne Zels’ phone is ringing incessantly. Every day he contacts people who have tested positive for the coronavirus or have had contact with an infected person. Zels sits at the office of the health office in Seelow in Brandenburg. The morning autumn sun peeks through the open windows, the trees shimmer with yellow shades of leaves, not much is happening in the town square. Since the incidence of COVID-19 in Brandenburg and throughout Germany continues to increase, the local health authority is working at full capacity to trace and control chains of infection.

Arne Zels is actually a business psychologist but is currently on sabbatical to help the health authorities during the pandemic. Therefore, a few months ago he took part in a training at the Institute of Robert Koch. Arne Zelsa’s main task is now to identify and track contacts in confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections. – We’re breaking the chains of infection. This is what counts in our work – he explains.

He carefully explains to one of the interviewees, whose boss tested positive, what to do now. She recommends staying in quarantine, asking if she has someone to look after her. She explains that she is not allowed to go out shopping and that she must stay away from her family. Working with an infected person is just getting started. Zels and two of his associates now need to identify all contacts that an infected person has had contact with in order to establish the origin of the infection. Sometimes such conversations take a long time. “But if we did it quickly, we’d leave a man in a situation where he couldn’t cope.” Either he would sit alone and become depressed, or at worst he would leave the house and infect others – explains Zels. Fortunately, his associates still manage. If the number of infections continues to rise, new employees will have to be hired, as in recent months. – People are at the limit of their possibilities, they no longer have the strength to perform their tasks in the best way, but that does not mean inability to act – says Zels.

An appeal to increase the number of employees

Meanwhile, some health authorities in Germany they have reached their limits. The German health ministry said it had received nine notifications from public health authorities that they had insufficient staff to track contacts and that “infection control measures could not be fully implemented”. In concrete terms, this means that in most cases it is impossible to determine where the source of the infection was. With potentially fatal consequences. The more difficult it is to identify contacts, the less is known which behavior is particularly dangerous or less problematic than previously thought. Knowing this is important as the number of coronavirus infections in Germany is breaking records. Therefore, the strategy of the last few months does not seem sufficient to contain the second wave of the pandemic.

The city councilor in Berlin’s Neukoelln district, Falko Liecke, knows the problem firsthand. His neighborhood was the leader in Germany in terms of the number of infections. The situation is still serious. – Berlin health authorities have not had enough employees for years. I’ve always said that when we have a serious situation, the health departments won’t be able to deal with it. And now it has worked, says Liecke.

Currently, 200 employees are involved in fighting the pandemic, 70 follow contacts. Another 40 people were asked for help, and 27 Bundeswehr soldiers and many other volunteers came to their aid. But even with the increased number of employees and with a 7-day working week, the office is unable to keep track of the chains of infection.

In the meantime, there are so many cases that the public health department, apart from those who tested positive for Covid-19, only calls those who are at risk. For example, to people with comorbidities. Other people are only informed later about the contact with an infected person or about the facilities where the person has stayed.

Change of strategy at Neukoelln

For this reason, there is now a cautious discussion in Neukoelln about changing the current strategy. The assessment of Nicolai Savaskan, who is the doctor at the district health office, is decisive. – Metaphorically, the infection process can be compared to a forest fire. If you have an area where the fire comes from a single source, it is generally relatively clear to firefighters what they need to do, the medic explains. However, now it is impossible to indicate any specific source and the situation is unclear and difficult to grasp – he adds.

Dealing with just one contagion and ten contacts is an extremely time-consuming task for government officials, Savaskan believes. Therefore, in the future, it will be necessary to focus on more independent action of the citizens themselves. The infected person would be informed and could then call the people they came into contact with themselves. This would allow Nicolaj Savaskan and his team to concentrate on those who particularly need protection. Lockdown is not a solution for the doctor. – It’s like a nuclear weapon that just destroys everything. There are more instruments that we can use now, says the doctor. But that would require a more sophisticated approach.

To assess your own risk or to others, quick tests could be carried out at home. Or introduce the so-called time corridors where risk groups could shop. “Be faster than your test” is what Savaskan calls the right approach. In case of symptoms or any suspicions, you should go to quarantine yourself to protect others. – Anyway, it is a task for the whole society – emphasizes the Berlin doctor. Without responsible, individual behavior, nothing can be done.

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