omicron wave
Hospital society does not expect clinic overload
A nurse looks after a Covid patient in the intensive care unit of the Düren hospital. (Archive image) Photo: Thomas Banneyer/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The omicron wave could push clinics to their breaking point. Some experts no longer expect an overload. But there are also forecasts that are less optimistic.
The German Hospital Society assumes that the clinics are coping well with the omicron wave. “I currently no longer expect the German healthcare system to be overloaded in the coming weeks,” said CEO Gerald Gass of the “Bild” newspaper.
The current corona measures have “significantly contributed to the fact that the feared wave was not as high as feared”. They should apply until the peak of the omicron wave, which the federal government expects in one to two weeks. After that, politicians could “without a doubt envisage gradual easing for the coming weeks”.
Overload still possible?
Other experts, on the other hand, continue to believe that the health system may be overburdened. The infectiologist Jana Schroeder (Foundation Mathias-Spital, Rheine) recently referred to around three million unvaccinated older people who could become seriously ill.