The number of Covid-19 cases in Germany is not that far off from that of Italy and Spain. However, the number of deaths is very low. A German virologist believes this is because the country performs hundreds of thousands of tests each week.
The latest assessment of the Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic in Germany reports 57,695 confirmed cases and 433 deaths . By way of comparison, France has 38,105 cases for 2,314 deaths. We should also mention the mortality rate of this country, namely only 0.5%. However, the situation in other countries is much less favorable, such as that of France (5.2%), Spain (7.2%) and especially Italy (10.5%). How to explain the fact that the number of deaths in Germany is so low?
Christian Drosten is a virologist at Charité Hospital in Berlin. The interested party quoted by Ouest-France believes that if his country has so few deaths, this is explained by a particular policy. Indeed, half a million diagnoses are carried out in the laboratory every week!
You should also know that Germany started testing very early on a large scale, far more than many countries. In addition, the significant presence of laboratories throughout Germany facilitated this massive campaign of tests, and this with great speed.
Let us also mention the German Ministry of Research, which declared that it wanted to release an envelope of 150 million euros . The goal? Support the establishment of an important network intended to improve exchanges between laboratories and university hospitals. This will include compiling data on Covid-19 patients and having an overview, particularly in terms of their medical history. There is also talk of facilitating the development of a vaccine.
It seems that Germany was partly inspired how South Korea handled the epidemic on its territory. Indeed, this country today almost out of the woods had chosen not to take containment measures. After an initial surge in the number of Covid-19 cases, South Korea opted for intensified testing , a supply of protective masks as well as a disinfection campaign for areas affected by the coronavirus.
The authorities have above all accelerated the procedures for placing tests on the market, which has resulted in the arrival of a new high-performance test. It is able to perform a complete diagnosis in less than 6 hours ! In the first week of March 2020, this country carried out 10,000 screenings per day, which made it possible to detect and treat many patients in record time.
