Many in Germany thought the worst of the pandemic was behind them. But the country is now being slammed by the fourth wave – fueled by millions of people who refuse to be vaccinated and political leaders who have abdicated leadership. The situation, say virologists, is grave.
By Markus Feldenkirchen, Matthias Gebauer, Veronika Hackenbroch, Milena Hassenkamp, Martin Knobbe, Petra Maier, Veit Medick, Cornelia Schmergal, Christoph Schult und Nina Weber Nov. 12, 2021
Nobody really wanted to listen to him in the last few months. He was seen as a killjoy, dragging down the mood. That annoying guy from Berlin’s Charité University Hospital. German politicians also studiously ignored his warnings of a difficult fourth epidemic wave – of a deadly corona autumn. But here we are. Because as it happens, Germany’s best-known virologist, Christian Drosten, in concert with many of his fellow scientists, had been spot on.
Countries with high vaccination rates like Spain and Portugal, says Drosten now, “could definitively leave the pandemic behind them” in spring. But in Germany, because of the many people who still refuse to be vaccinated and due to the sluggish booster campaign, is “still miles away” from that. “As soon as Delta strikes with full force, the hospitals will quickly be overwhelmed,” Drosten warns.
And Delta is currently hitting Germany hard. On Thursday, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s center for disease control, reported more than 50,000 new infections. A record. The seven-day incidence rate climbed to 249 on Thursday, also a record. The RKI also reported 235 deaths from the virus on Thursday alone.
The hospitals are getting fuller by the day, and 2,800 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care. In response, Charité has cancelled all non-emergency surgeries and many other clinics in the country have done the same. If the trend continues, many of them could soon be overwhelmed.
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