In the past two summers of the corona pandemic, the situation in the hospitals has been relatively relaxed, this year it looks different. Because many employees are ill themselves, more than half of the intensive care units cannot work regularly and operations have to be postponed.
Increasing numbers of corona and high levels of sick leave are affecting the operation of intensive care units in German clinics. "The high number of sick employees in particular is a problem for us in the health system - and some are finally taking their well-earned vacation to start the winter months with renewed energy," said the President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), Gernot Marx, the newspapers of the Funke media group.
55 percent of the 736 intensive care units worked in partially restricted or restricted operation. “Unfortunately, that is a very high number that we have otherwise only seen in the colder seasons and a higher Covid load,” said Marx.
According to the DIVI daily report on Friday, 1072 patients were treated in intensive care, 25 more than the day before. That is about twice as many as at the same time last year and almost four times as many as in 2020, emphasized Marx. At the same time, almost 2,000 fewer intensive care beds are available than last year, mainly due to a lack of staff. The care of the life-threateningly ill patients and emergency patients is secured everywhere. "But in the hospitals, numerous operations are being postponed again and staff have to be relocated," Marx made clear.
