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.
Self-government, telematics, Morbi-RSA: The briefing on health
The federal government should therefore adopt the advice of its experts and finally systematically collect and evaluate data on the dynamics of infection, the severity of the disease and the burden on the health system. In its statement published on Wednesday, the 19-strong Corona Expert Council called for such data collection, among other things.
Reinhardt added that certainty is also needed as to how effective the measures taken in the past have been: “Because the population will only accept renewed restrictions if they are proven to be necessary and effective,” said the President of the Medical Association. The findings from the evaluation of the corona measures, which should be available at the end of the month, should therefore also be incorporated into further planning.
Similar to Reinhardt, the Chairman of the Board of the German Hospital Society (DKG), Gerald Gass, also called for proposals from politicians on how the required data collection should be financed and created without additional effort for clinics.
“If politicians now want to use real-time data from the hospitals for the autumn, they have to answer the question of how this is to be implemented technically and who will bear the costs for the necessary IT investments,” said the DKG CEO of the editorial network Germany. “As is well known, investment financing is the responsibility of the federal states, which have not yet shown any initiative.”
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.
In addition, the Council 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.
The Bonn virologist Hendrik Streeck hopes for political decisions that correspond to the proposals of the expert council. That’s what Streeck said on Wednesday on ARD.
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 anything,” said Streeck.
