After more than two years of the pandemic, practitioners still see a massive need to catch up in creating a profound database. Now they urge a speedy recovery.
In the fight against the corona pandemic, Germany urgently needs a better database from the point of view of the German Medical Association.
“In the last two and a half years we have experienced a real data blind flight, which was not a good basis for rational decisions,” said Doctor President Klaus Reinhardt of the Funke media group. The occupancy of hospital and intensive care beds can only be realistically forecast if there is clarity about the actual course of infection. The federal government should therefore adopt the advice of its experts and finally systematically collect and evaluate data on infection dynamics, disease severity and the burden on the health system.
Expert council expects burden on the healthcare system
Similar to Reinhardt, the chairman of the board of the German Hospital Society (DKG), Gerald Gass, made a statement. In the “Rheinische Post”, he called on politicians to clarify the question of “who will bear the costs for the necessary IT investments”.
The Expert Council again expects the health system to be under considerable strain in autumn and winter. He recommends a legal basis for quick reactions to possibly increasing numbers of infections in autumn and winter and urges long-term improvements – for example in data analysis and forecasting. The Council also calls for uniformity – namely central coordination of the pandemic measures between the federal and state governments and nationwide communication of all existing regulations and recommendations as quickly and uniformly as possible.
Streeck: “We can prepare for anything”
The Bonn virologist Hendrik Streeck hopes for political decisions that correspond to the proposals of the expert council. Streeck said on Wednesday in the ARD program “maischberger”. Regardless of whether there is a summer corona wave or not, preparations for the fall have to be made anyway. Politicians have many protective instruments such as vaccination and masks at hand. “We can prepare for everything,” said Streeck.
When asked how he felt about the possibility of a new lockdown, he said: “I would not recommend a lockdown.” This was also not mentioned in the opinion of the Expert Council. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had previously emphasized that the statement would become the “basis for the federal government’s Corona autumn plan”.
