Germany to create medical stockpiles for future scares
November 30, 2020
Germany is to set up medical storage units, hoping to stave off some of the shortages experienced at the onset of the pandemic. Meanwhile, German medics are alarmed at the current rise in ICU occupancy rates.
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The German government agreed on Monday to set up 19 locations for medical gear storage in order to avoid the lack of masks and other protective equipment faced by most of the world at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Angela Merkel's government plans to spend around €1 billion ($1.2 billion) next year creating 19 "national health reserves" around Germany to ensure Europe's leading economy is better prepared for any upcoming health crisis, Health Minister Jens Spahn said.
"The pandemic has taught us to take more precautions," he told reporters.
The storage centers will include supplies of personal protective gear, such as masks, as well as medicines and ventilators for patients with respiratory issues.
The aim is for each assembly to contain enough supplies for a month for local hospitals, care homes and other clinics.
Initially the sites will be filled with items already available or ordered, including medical accessories coming from China.
But from 2022, the aim is to rely more on equipment "made in Germany," Health Minister Spahn said.
Christmas shine despite the coronavirus: Germany's cities are festively lit
Most Christmas markets in Germany have been canceled. What remains is festive lighting in many cities. A journey through pre-Christmas Germany: From Lübeck to Nuremberg.
Image: Martin Schutt/dpa/picture alliance
Lübeck
The Holstentor Gate without a twinkling light? Unthinkable! The seasonal decorations in the old town of Lübeck with Christmas trees, fairy lights and garlands create a pre-Christmas atmosphere, even if the traditional Christmas market had to be cancelled.
Image: Markus Scholz(dpa/picture alliance
Hamburg
In many major German cities, the boulevards are festively illuminated in the pre-Christmas period, like the trees on the Jungfernstieg quay in Hamburg. Instead of Christmas markets, individual stalls have been set up in the Hanseatic city.
Image: Daniel Reinhardt/dpa/picture alliance
Lüneburg
Christmas spirit despite coronavirus restrictions is also the theme in the Hanseatic city of Lüneburg in Lower Saxony. The markets have also been canceled here. Instead, the festive lighting in Lüneburg's alleys and in front of the town hall (pictured) is intended to put strollers in a festive mood.
Image: Philipp Schulze/dpa/picture alliance
Berlin
The German capital's many neighborhoods usually have their own Christmas market. The big markets like the one at Charlottenburg Palace or on the Gendarmenmarkt have been canceled long ago; smaller ones may still have some stalls. What definitely remains are the illuminated boulevards, including Unter den Linden, Tauentzienstrasse (photo) and Friedrichstrasse.
Image: Paul Zinken/dpa/picture alliance
Leipzig
The pre-Christmas season 2020 is very different, as can be seen from the emptiness on the large squares in city centers. They can also become more radiant, like the Christmas-lit Augustusplatz in Leipzig. The cups for mulled wine usually sold at the Christmas market can be purchased online this year, the city says.
Image: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa/picture alliance
Erfurt
The Erfurt Christmas market, which in 2020 would have been the 170th one, has also been cancelled. Instead, the Christmas tree and the Christmas pyramid on the square in front of St. Mary's Cathedral and St. Severus Church will be all the more impressive.
Image: Martin Schutt/dpa/picture alliance
Münster
Sometimes an illuminated Christmas tree is enough to mark the festive season. When the medieval center has been so charmingly reconstructed as around the Prinzipalmarkt in Münster, a Westphalian town, the city can only profit from it, maybe not from sales revenues, but in terms of atmosphere.
Image: Jürgen Fromme/firo/augenklick/picture alliance
Bochum
Bochum is also sparkling. And the elk family on the central Dr.-Ruer-Platz square has grown and developed into a small pack. By the way, some retailers of the canceled Christmas market were able to move into empty stores to offer their goods.
Image: Rupert Oberhäuser/dpa/picture alliance
Frankfurt
In front of the city hall, on the central Römerberg in Frankfurt, a lonely pine tree is a reminder that the Christmas market had to be canceled in the banking metropolis as well. This year's Christmas tree is a 21-meter (69-foot) spruce from the Gröbminger Land region of Austria. The impressive tree actually had to be cut down for a stream restoration.
Image: Michael Probst/AP Photo/picture alliance
Mainz
In Rhineland-Palatinate, too, fairy lights and Christmas trees are to create an atmosphere to make up for the Christmas markets that were canceled due to the coronavirus restrictions. In Mainz, fairy lights on the market square in front of the 1,000-year-old St. Martin's Cathedral make the unusual emptiness a little more bearable.
Image: Andreas Arnold/dpa/picture alliance
Nuremberg
Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt is probably Germany's most famous Christmas market. From the gallery of the Frauenkirche (photo), the "Christ Child" was supposed to open the market in 2020. In a video message, the actress who plays the traditional role said after the cancellation: "We will not let this spoil our enjoyment. There is so much that gives us joy, happiness and warmth."
Image: Daniel Karmann/dpa/picture alliance
Stuttgart
The Christmas lighting on the Schlossplatz square shows meter-high light sculptures like the Stuttgart horse from the city coat of arms. Instead of the cancelled Christmas market, 33 booths and stalls have been set up throughout the city center.
Meanwhile, Spahn also highlighted the need for lower numbers of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations, as he expressed concerns over intensive care units rapidly filling up in hospitals. Though occupancy was not at capacity on Monday, Germany almost doubled its ICU capacity earlier in the year in anticipation of increased need.
Spahn's worries come as reports emerged from medical staff that they could still cope, but only under immense stress for all involved, whether that be doctors, nurses or cleaners.
According to the German Association for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Medicine (DIVI), some 1,300 hospitals across the country have reported having 5,900 beds available in their ICUs, with the occupancy rate now approaching 4,000 and rising.