Intensive care physicians confident: “Could have Corona under control in autumn”

Sunday February 21, 2021

Critical care practitioner confident
“Could have Corona under control in autumn”

It is currently still unclear in which direction the infection rate is developing in Germany. However, the president of German intensive care medicine, Marx, believes the pandemic can be brought back under control by autumn. But only on one condition.
 The  positive development in the pandemic situation in Germany seems to be wavering – according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the seven-day incidence – the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within this period – rose for the second time in a row above the Value from the previous day. It is currently trading at just over 60 again.

 The  federal government’s goal is to push the value below 35. When will it be possible to control the infection process again in this country?

 The  president of the German intensive care physicians, Gernot Marx, is confident that Germany can get the corona pandemic under control in the second half of the year. “If everyone is getting a good vaccination soon, it could be that we will have Corona under control at the end of the third quarter of 2021, in autumn,” said Marx of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “But that really requires that almost everyone be vaccinated. Otherwise, new mutants will emerge in the meantime.”

Herd immunity only against the original variant

ntv / RTL medical expert Dr. Christoph Specht is skeptical of the herd immunity we are striving for: “We can only achieve that if we are quick. It can work for the Israelis – I see something black with us.” He also sees the big problem in the corona mutations: “We might then have herd immunity against the original variant, but during this time the mutations develop and then prevail.”

 The  British mutant of the corona virus, which is much more contagious, is currently causing concern. Like many others, Marx reckons that the corona numbers will therefore go up again: “We are assuming a third wave,” he said. “Our request is therefore: Get vaccinated – also with Astrazeneca.” According to the German Hospital Association (DKG), the situation in the clinics is now better than it was at the beginning of the year. “

 The  situation has eased noticeably compared to the highest level of the second wave,” said the designated managing director Gerald Gaß of “Welt”.

At the beginning of January there were almost 6,000 intensive care patients and 25,000 patients in the infection wards, and now there are 3,000 in the intensive care area. “That still requires increased protection against infection and great attention, but we are away from this maximum exposure. That makes me very satisfied,” said Gaß, who was also President of the DKG until the end of 2020. “We are now at a point where we can say: We are not overloaded.”