A doctor in Hanover with a smear (symbol image). Image: www.imago-images.de / via www.imago-images.de
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Family doctor: “We have been waiting for breathing masks for three weeks”
The corona virus has been rampant for a few weeks now. It has been in the media for a few weeks now. And for a few weeks now it has not been clear how threatening it really is. Many people are therefore unsettled. In addition, we are currently in the flu season. The problem: flu and corona infection are similar.
Dry cough, fatigue, sore throat or fever can occur in both diseases. Such symptoms can also occur with a flu-like infection – or a cold. This, summed up with the fear of the corona virus, leads some to imagine that they have been infected with the new virus.
And in some places this results in overcrowded medical practices. This is illustrated by a “SternTV” report. In it, a team of journalists visited several practices. One of them in Munich, where 42 Corona cases have been reported. Difficult.
Doctor: Not everyone needs a test
In addition to reassuring people who are unsure about their everyday life, family doctors must also take appropriate measures to protect themselves and the patients from a possible corona infection.
For example, patients with cold symptoms must first clarify whether they have been in an affected region – at best by telephone, otherwise there is a danger to the rest of the people in a practice. The question remains when someone is generally tested on Corona.
It gets tricky here. The doctor Ahmad Sirfy says in the “SternTV” report that the means are simply not enough to test everyone for corona. “We can’t smear everyone,” he explains. In addition, he does not feel that this is necessary. Because he has never had contact with a corona patient in his practice, as he says. But even more so with those who believe that they have the virus.
But it is not just the additional stress that is a problem. The wear of protective agents also increases in his practice. And how difficult it is to get to them has already become clear in the past few days. Finally, hamster purchases have been piling up recently.
There are also bottlenecks in other cities. The doctor Wolfgang Vergoßen from Heinsberg also reports problems with getting supplies, but also emphasizes that that he had first stocked up with everything necessary. He doesn’t know if that’s enough.
Two corona sufferers report
Now it is understandable that many are worried about the virus. After all, it is a danger that we can neither see nor touch. In addition, the regular news reports can quickly give you the feeling that the virus is always buzzing around you. Even if there are no reported cases in our area.
For many, the feeling of fear is exacerbated by the fact that the symptoms can manifest themselves in very different ways. They are serious in people with lung diseases and nothing happens to most healthy people, as can also be seen in “SternTV”.
So the two infected Birgit and Daniel Schlerith speak up there. The former suffers from asthma. She had to go to hospital at times because she developed bronchitis during the course of the corona disease.
“However, I had the flu two years ago. From this I developed severe pneumonia. It was much worse,” she said in the report. Her husband Daniel tested positive, but did not develop any symptoms. Both are in home quarantine.
The current episode of “SternTV” shows a clear problem: The general uncertainty that leads to overcrowded medical practices and doctors who are overwhelmed at some point. It should be pointed out that this fear may not necessarily be related to the actual danger.
(tkr)
