FILE PHOTO: A test tube labelled "COVID-19 Test positive" is seen in this illustration picture taken, March 10, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The health experts of the red-green-red coalition in Berlin are pushing to prepare the city for looming post-Covid cases. “Depending on the scenario, long-term consequences of a corona infection that require treatment affect up to 75,000 Berliners,” says Tobias Schulze, health expert for the left in the House of Representatives.

“Even if we already have good networks for long-Covid care, the capacities must be expanded as needed.” SPD, Greens and Left Party are therefore inviting you to a specialist forum in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. In addition to left-wing politician Schulze, Bettina König (SPD) and Catherina Pieroth (Greens) want to talk about necessary research, possible therapies and possible contact points.

[If you want to have all the latest news live on your cell phone, we recommend our app, which you can download here for Apple and Android devices.] “I often hear from those affected that all therapy places are full,” said Schulze. “Against the background of the federal government’s indecisive corona policy, which does not provide for any effective protective measures, we owe people with long-term symptoms good care.”

Judith Bellmann-Strobl, head of the post-Covid network of the state-owned Charité, Christian Gogoll from the long-Covid network of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, State Secretary for Health Thomas Götz (Greens) and Kirsten Wittke, senior doctor at the Fatigue Center of the charity. So far, studies on the occurrence of long-term consequences after Covid-19 infections have come to very different conclusions.

[Keep an overview: Every morning from 6 a.m., editor-in-chief Lorenz Maroldt and his team report on the latest developments relating to the corona virus in the Tagesspiegel newsletter Checkpoint. Register now for free: checkpoint.tagesspiegel.de]

It is well known that a corona infection can cause massive symptoms even after the acute phase. How severe these can be is being researched. Conceptually there is also ambiguity. For the time being, “Long Covid” refers to those symptoms that persist one month after infection, “Post-Covid” refers to conditions that appear three months after the acute phase of the corona infection.

The most common symptoms include constant tiredness, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating, a weak short-term memory, dizziness, muscle and joint pain, impairment of the sense of smell and taste.