There is new news every day about the corona virus, the spread of which has now been classified by the WHO as a pandemic. Slowly but surely it is becoming clear to everyone: It is no longer a matter of scaremongering. It is now up to everyone to act in order to contain or at least delay the Corona virus and its spread as far as possible. "Flatten the curve" is the motto, which means something like: Let us make sure that as few people as possible become infected with Covid-19 at the same time. Otherwise there is a risk of overloading the health system, as we are already seeing in Italy have to.
The most important and therefore most difficult measure at the moment is: Limit social contacts to the bare minimum. This not only serves your own protection – but above all that of the risk group. Only recently, the virologist Prof. Christian Drosten recommended that children should not be given to grandparents until September / October. The risk of infection is too great.
But what does that mean for us? Shouldn't we visit our parents anymore? Cancel family reunion? We have at Dr. Thorsten Voshaar asked. He is Chairman of the Board of the Association of Pneumological Clinics (VPK) and Chief Physician of the Lung Center at Bethanien Hospital in Moer and provides information.
We have Corona questions – Dr. Voshaar answers
Dr. Voshaar, we ask ourselves: if you shouldn't give children to your grandparents anymore – what about us? Do we now have to stop visits to our family at risk when we are at risk?
"Definitely. You shouldn't visit grandparents that much anymore, the same thing is said in the hospital and in the nursing home.
Visits should be kept to a minimum. Because we know that all of the pneumonia is transmitted to an extremely large extent by the old people in the same house from the children without them getting sick themselves.
So the answer is clear: You yourself, whether mother, father or grandchild, should now avoid grandparents and the people who belong to the risk group. "
Who is part of the corona risk group, explains Dr. Voshaar here
So even I, in my late 20s and childless, my parents, over 60, shouldn't see anyway?
"Yes. As few contacts as possible. Of course, you can be a carrier without even noticing anything yourself. Then you'd better see yourself as little as possible now – you'd better be on the phone, set up Skype and maintain contacts. "
What do I do if I am not a risk patient – but live with a risk group – be it the partner, children, parents or WG members?
"Yes, of course, if you live in a community or in a family, you have few options to avoid yourself. But then you have to be very careful not to bring the virus into your family. That You are particularly careful with hand disinfection in everyday life, but ultimately also that you have as few social contacts as possible. That is actually the right way at the moment. "
Should I work from home too?
"In many professions you can do that if you don't have to do something with your hands. But since everyone should stay at home now, it really has to work. Maybe that will give another boost to leaving more people at home and better expand the network in Germany. "
Can you currently estimate how long social isolation will last?
"It is currently not possible to correctly assess how the wave will go on, nor how it looks with infectivity and mortality. That is why it only makes sense at the moment to hold back and restrict yourself so that the wave does not roll over us so quickly. Otherwise, it could they say yes, let the wave run over us once, then we will have it behind us, then 70 to 80 percent of the population will be infected and then it will stop. But of course we are afraid that so many people will get sick at once that the health system is overwhelmed. That’s the only reason to slow down the wave. But of course you don’t know how long it will take. ”
Thank you very much for the interview, Dr. Voshaar.
So, the rule is: persevere. Because through social isolation, each of us can ultimately protect other human lives – and that should be worth a little loneliness, right ?!
source used: Interview Dr. Thorsten Voshaar