More than 90 per cent of critically ill patients in Germany have a ‘migrant background’, a chief doctor has said, prompting claims that the government is turning a blind eye to the case so that they do not put out a race series.
Thomas Voshaar, the chief physician at a lung hospital in Germany, said a study of top doctors had found many of the sickest patients to be described as ‘patients with communication barriers’.
In a conference call of health experts, reported by Bild, Voshaar said he had raised the issue with Jens Spahn, Angela Merkel’s health minister – while the head of Germany’s main institute of diseases, Lothar Wieler, described it as’ taboo ‘.
Wieler said the number of Muslims in intensive care was ‘clearly above 50 per cent’ even though they make up only about five per cent of Germany’s 83million population.
Intensive care ward in Germany, where health experts have warned that Muslims and other minorities make up a disproportionately large proportion of patients with a highly ill virus.
Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Disease Institute in Germany, described the issue as a ‘taboo’ in a conference call with health experts
Voshaar told a Feb. 14 conference call that government warnings about the dangers of the virus were not ‘just getting through’ to migrant communities.
He said chief doctors had compiled statistics from intensive care wards in November and December 2020 and January 2021, the second month’s highest months.
‘According to my analysis, over 90 per cent of intubated patients, who were very ill, always had a migraine background,’ he said.
‘We agreed among ourselves that we should define these people as‘ patients with communication barriers ’. We don’t seem to be getting through. ‘
Wieler, the head of the RKI, called on authorities to engage with imams to get through to Muslim communities, saying the issue was a ‘taboo’ and a ‘real problem’.
‘There are parallel societies in our country. You can’t fix that with work reaching out right in the mosques, but we don’t get through. And that sucks, ‘he said.
Wieler said the proportion of Muslims in intensive care wards was ‘clearly above 50 per cent’, although they make up only about 4.8 per cent of the population.
Asked by Bild about the conference call, Wieler denied what was said but described it as a ‘private, informal exchange’ rather than final results.
Immigration politics is a sensitive issue for Angela Merkel, pictured, who suffered her turnout after opening German doors to Syrian refugees
Germany’s infection rate is climbing again after weeks of development, but the Merkel government says vaccination and a quick re-test will allow some reopening
The death rate has also fallen but is still higher than at the height of the first wave when Germany fled relatively lightly.
Voshaar said everyone he spoke to about his findings, including Health Minister Spahn, had dealt with a feeling of ‘oh God’.
But Merkel is not thought to have discussed the issue in her regular meetings with key statesmen.
Experts on the conference call are said to have raised fears that the German government was avoiding opposition to the case for fear of starting a racist debate.
Migration and integration is a sensitive political issue in Germany, which unilaterally included more than a million Syrian refugees who went to war in 2015.
That gave impetus to the growth of the most remote Alternative for Germany (AfD), which came into parliament in 2017 and significantly weakened Merkel’s authority.
One politician in Merkel’s party acknowledged that there may be ‘language barriers’ but said the dangers should be clear now regardless of history.
Small groups are hardest hit in many countries, including in the UK where studies have shown a higher mortality rate among black and Asian people.
But the German RKI has not released official figures on diseases or mortality rates among different ethnic groups.
The new announcements are the latest blow to the Merkel government which has already been critical of the slow and widespread lock-down of the vaccine.
Merkel’s CDU saw a popular surge in 2020 as Germany fled the first wave relatively lightly, but the party has now fallen to the lowest turnout in a year.
German police officer is getting the AstraZeneca vaccine that health officials have been struggling to deliver after senior officials questioned the effectiveness
The chancellor is on fire to allow Brussels to lead the vaccination race, resulting in anarchy after the EU was slow to secure contracts with Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
And the intrusion was also criticized at home, with many Germans refusing to take the AstraZeneca injection after senior officials questioned its effectiveness.
Health officials are now being asked to make a U-turn and allow the injection for people over 65 after real-world studies in England and Scotland found it to be effective.
Meanwhile, Merkel wants to start easing virus loops from next week with studies showing that Germans are losing patients with the lock.
‘We are coming out of a long closure and we now need to move forward step by step,’ Merkel said in a video call with an MP from her reserve bloc.
According to a draft document, Merkel wants five adults from two families to be able to reunite from March 8, releasing the usual limit of two.
The text also says flower shops, bookstores and garden centers should be the next to reopen, after girls were allowed to open earlier this week.
However, most shops and restaurants, as well as leisure, cultural and sporting facilities, should remain closed until March 28, according to the draft.
The official document says a gradual respite is needed as a result of an upcoming ramp in the vaccine and the advent of a rapid test.
‘Both of these factors clearly change the state of the pandemic,’ he says – even as things gradually escalate after weeks of decline.
Spahn has promised to soon give the Germans free antigen tests at designated locations as a reference, where results will come on the spot.
Germans will soon be able to buy cheap DIY test kits at drug stores, and students and teachers are expected to receive at least one free trial each week.