Germany: Fourteen Die in Local Corona Outbreak at Brandenburg Nursing Home

In the past days, fourteen elderly persons died of COVID-19 at a care home in Brandenburg province. The Coronavirus was probably brought in by unvaccinated caregivers.

Berlin, November 2nd, 2021 (The Berlin Spectator) — Fourty-four residents of a nursing home in Brandenburg’s Schorfheide were infected with the Coronavirus in the most recent local outbreak. Within a few days, fourteen of them died. All victims were above 80 years of age, the oldest one was 101. When the Corona outbreak was detected, fifteen caretakers tested positive for Corona.

Mandatory Vaccinations Not Viable

“This is exactly what we did not want to go through again”, Brandenburg’s Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher told the RBB radio and TV network. She was referring to numerous deadly outbreaks in German care homes during the first Corona waves. According to her, only 50 percent of the caretakers at this location in Schorfheide were vaccinated against COVID-19. Among the residents, the vaccination rate was higher than 90 percent. A representative for the local health authority in charge said the victims of this outbreak had had pre-existing conditions.

Minister Nonnemacher told the RBB, daily Corona tests were necessary “in some areas”. She conceded that, at this stage, caretakers in Brandenburg are being tested twice a week only. Ursula Nonnemacher also stated she understood demands for mandatory vaccinations for caretakers at nursing homes, but measures of this kind could not really be implemented for legal reasons.

No New Lockdowns Expected

While Germany’s overall Seven Day Incidence decreased a little, from 154.8 on Monday to 153.7 today, the situation remains alarming. Ten out of sixteen federal states have three-digit Incidences. Thuringia has been a Corona hotspot twice before. It just reached an Incidence level of 306.5. In Saxony, the Incidence is 284.4, Bavaria stands at 248.9. In spite of this Corona wave, which is affecting the entire country, no new lockdowns are being planned.

Three counties have Incidences above 600. All of them are located in Bavaria. Four German counties are above 500, eleven above 400 and thirty-six above 300. In the city state of Berlin, the Seven Day Incidence just increased by 16 points to 156.1. Especially in its districts Mitte, Spandau, Reinickendorf, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Neukölln, the situation is serious. In all of these cases, the Incidences are above 170.

Corona Patients in Intensive Care

According to the ‘DIVI Intensiv Register’, the number of Corona patients who are in intensive care in Germany is now 2,058. This means, it increased by 136 within two days. Fifty-two percent of these patients are connected to respirators.

All relevant Corona numbers for Germany, and daily Corona updates, can be found in our Corona chronology.

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