Corona current: Infected in the health department

Corona outbreak
Several infected people reported to the health department

Despite Lockdown Light, the number of infections in Germany continues to rise. The effect of the new measures is only slowly being felt; the new infections reported daily by the Robert Koch Institute are still at a high level.

An important factor in curbing the spread of the coronavirus is the quick identification of contact persons – in order to cut chains of infection as quickly as possible. The health authorities are working at full speed to achieve this. Now, of all places, a corona outbreak has been reported there.

For some time now, the health authorities across Germany have been relying on the support of Bundeswehr soldiers in order to be able to cope with the workload. Now two of the helpers themselves have tested positive for the corona virus in Berlin Mitte, as reported by "rbb24".

Corona cases in the health department in Berlin

As a result, three of the four doctors working there are said to be in quarantine, along with ten other close contact persons who are members of the pandemic team.

The Bundeswehr soldiers are said to have supported the test team and the Corona hotline of the health department. So there is currently a major failure in Berlin – of all times, at the time when the health authorities are already overloaded. "The extent of the restrictions cannot yet be conclusively described," said the City Councilor for Health of Berlin-Mitte Ephraim Gothe to rbb24.

One problem is the re-emerging, lack of digitization: the employees of the health department could not continue working from home because they would not have the appropriate access. Work in the home office is currently not possible for the helpers – they are completely canceled.

Now there may be further delays in the work of the health department, including, for example, notifying infected people and identifying contact persons.