Hyderabad: Germany is a frontrunner among the countries with an effective pandemic response. Despite the high incidence of cases in the initial days, the country is at the forefront of controlling the contagion.
As of April 14, 1,30,000 cases were reported in Germany, half of which recovered. Dr Maria Chennamaneni, a medical expert from Germany and wife of Vemulawada MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh, working as a senior physiotherapist at Klinikum Buch, Berlin for the past 30 years said the spread could be contained owing to the government’s measures and public awareness.
In an exclusive telephonic interview with Eenadu, she explained how her country managed the COVID-19 outbreak with least fatalities.
Germany’s first COVID-19 case was identified on January 27. A 33-year old employee of Websta, a German car spares supplier in Starnberg, was tested positive. He was found to have contracted the disease from a colleague from Wuhan, China. The virus has spread throughout the country through travellers from Italy, Iran and China.
As of April 21, 1,47,065 cases were recorded among which 4,862 people have died. The government has embarked on an effective strategy to combat the contagion.
The T3 initiative- ‘Trace, test, treat’ was successful. Initial diagnosis and screening have greatly reduced the infection from advancing, avoiding fatalities. The rate of disease outbreak has dropped significantly. 84,717 patients have recovered.
Initially, an infected person could spread the virus to 5 to 7 people which is now reduced to 1.2 to 1.7 people. Currently, there are 2,294 patients in the ICUs, of which 73 per cent are on ventilator support.
The German government developed a contingency plan for tackling the virus with the help of Robert Koch Institute, a research institute responsible for disease control and prevention. A large number of containment clusters were set up to reduce the speed of contagion.
A national curfew was imposed on March 22 and international borders were closed. People were allowed to venture out only to buy essentials.
In Germany, 132 centres conduct 5,00,000 nCoV tests in a week. So far, 13,50,000 tests were done. Doctors identify people with symptoms and start the treatment immediately.
The healthcare sector is using telemedicine to its advantage. The government medical policies and healthcare systems have greatly contributed to tackle the pandemic.
Germany’s total population is 8 crores. The country is divided into 16 states. Education and healthcare are completely government-controlled. The government’s per capita spending on healthcare is INR 4,50,000 per year, which is higher than in many countries. Every citizen has a health insurance policy here. There are 621 hospital beds for 1,00,000 population. Medical testing is free for all. There are about 28,000 ventilators and 40,000 ICU beds. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, regular medical services are functioning as usual in Germany.
India is as much my home as Germany. My husband and in-laws have helped me integrate with the Telangana culture. It is difficult to implement a blanket lockdown in a country like India with 130 crore population. Experts and citizens are lauding the Indian government’s decision to implement a lockdown by overcoming several challenges. If the rate of testing is increased along with the current measures, people will be reassured, said Dr Maria.
Read: COVID-19 crisis: India to ramp up ventilator production
