Successful StrategyFollow South Korean Covid plans Asian nation’s virus strategy of ‘trace, test and treat’ is helping Germany get ahead of the situation  09.04.2020

Germany spends $5,848 per person each year on healthcare, higher than most other nations; has compulsory health insurance for all and testing is free

In the race against the coronavirus, Germany is betting on widespread testing and quarantining to break the infection chain, a strategy borrowed from South Korea whose success in slowing the outbreak has become the envy of the world. There are a few important indicators, which Germany is leveraging.

Germany has a population of 83 million (8.3 crore) living in 16 States. The country’s proposed plans echo the “trace, test and treat” strategy that appears to have helped South Korea bring its outbreak under control. It has included mass screening for potential cases and heavy use of technology to monitor patients.

Leveraging Smartphones

Although Germany and South Korea are two very different countries, the Asian nation’s virus strategy “can be an example”, according to Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control. Germany is already carrying out more coronavirus tests than any other European country at a rate of 300,000 to 500,000 a week, according to officials.

The government aims to ramp that up to at least 2,00,000 tests a day. The goal would be to test all those who suspect they have caught the virus, as well as the entire circle of people who have come into contact with a confirmed case. The current testing criteria are focused on those who are sick with Covid-19 symptoms and have had contact with a confirmed case.

A crucial weapon in the battle would be the use of smartphone location data to trace a patient’s recent movements, to more accurately track down and isolate potentially infected people. While government officials and epidemiologists have come out in favour of cell-phone tracking, it remains a controversial idea in privacy-minded Germany, a nation haunted by the surveillance of the Nazi era and the communist-era Stasi secret police. The mortality rate of Germany due to Covid- 19 is 1.4% — compared with around 10% in hardest-hit Italy, 9% in France, 8% in Spain and 4% in Switzerland. Due to intensive testing, the average age of a German infected with coronavirus is 46, whereas in Italy it is 63. About 80% of all people infected in Germany are younger than 60. In Spain, the number of affected over 60s is around 50%, 12% in Italy and 7% in the Netherlands.

According to medical experts, older people are far more likely to die from the coronavirus, and most deaths occur in those with pre-existing health conditions, which are more common in older people. For example, highly older populations in the most badly affected areas, such as the Lombardy and Bergamo regions in Italy, as well as in regions of France, had very high fatality rates.

Strong Public Healthcare

The solid and publicly-funded German healthcare system is also a reason for Germany’s relatively low death rate. With 28,000 intensive care beds equipped with ventilators, Germany is in a better position than many countries to deal with an influx of patients in respiratory distress.

Germany spends $5,848 per person each year on healthcare, which is higher than most other nations. It has compulsory health insurance for all and the cost of testing is free. It also has the second-most critical care beds per capita in Europe, 621 beds per 1,00,000 people. Italy has 275, and Spain 293.

However, in recent months, some intensive care beds have had to be put out of action because of a lack of staff. Germany currently has some 17,000 unfilled vacancies in nursing care. As a result, many hospitals have resorted to drafting in retired health professionals or student medics to help with the coronavirus onslaught, including at Berlin’s renowned Charite University Hospital of Humboldt University.

Changing Strategy

In view of this situation and increasing number of infections by the day, German Health Minister Jens Spahn has warned that the country could face “a storm” of new cases in the weeks ahead. Germany’s health specialists, however, warn that the dramatic scenes at Italian hospitals at breaking point could happen in Germany as well. Therefore, the government strategy is now to replace the previous method, based on the motto “we test to confirm the situation,” by the approach “we test to get ahead of the situation”.

Germany is following South Korea, which has used mass tests and the isolation of infected people to slow down the spread of the virus without bringing public life to a standstill, as a role model. Unlike China, South Korea did not impose any general curfews.

Experts say that the testing capacity in Germany should be increased “very quickly”, with the aim to carry out 1,00,000 a day from April 13, and 2,00,000 by the end of April. Berlin-based senior virologist Christian Drosten estimated last Thursday that around 5,00,000 tests are currently being carried out per week.

Beyond the plans for mass testing and the preparedness of the healthcare system, many also see Chancellor Angela Merkel’s leadership as one reason the fatality rate has been kept low. Merkel has communicated clearly, calmly and regularly throughout the crisis, as she imposed ever-stricter social distancing measures on the country. The restrictions, which have been crucial to slowing the spread of the pandemic, met with little political opposition and are broadly followed by all sections of the people. This is a strategy many countries could adopt.

(The author is an MLA)