Category: Corona

Many consumers in germany have stocked up on medicines out of concern about the coronavirus. In march, demand for over-the-counter medicines rose sharply, giving pharmaceutical companies an exceptional boost.

This was reported by several drug manufacturers in response to a dpa inquiry. The rush in pharmacies is pushing logistics in the sector to its limits in some cases and fuelling the debate about supply shortages of medicines.

"In the last few weeks, we have had to cope with order volumes across our entire portfolio, some of which have tripled," explained ratiopharm’s parent company teva in ulm, for example.

Despite the successful launch of the corona warning app, people in germany should not slacken their precautionary measures against – this has been pointed out by the renowned immunologist lucie abeler-dorner of the nuffield department of medicine at the university of oxford.

"The outbreaks in gutersloh and gottingen show that the danger is not over yet and that it is important to identify outbreaks as quickly as possible."Abeler-dorner, together with other researchers, had simulated in a study how a contact-tracking app can help against the spread of the coronavirus. They came to the conclusion that a tracing application starts to work as soon as at least 15 percent of the population participates. Then chains of infection could be broken and contagions prevented. Without any other protective measure such as respirators or safety distance, 60 percent were needed to show a significant effect.

The number of downloads of the german corona warning app rose to 13.3 million on friday, equivalent to 16 percent of the population.

It is an idiosyncratic atmosphere in the courtroom, which is well filled despite the corona crisis. A mammoth trial with first 13 and then another eleven trial days is coming to an end – and everyone already suspects what the verdict will be. On that friday the 13th., then only the presiding judge manfred schmidt has the floor, his verdict can be summarized in two short sentences: the three defendants, the former home manager of the senior citizens’ residence schloss gleusdorf, her care service manager and the home doctor at the time are acquitted and also all exonerated. The costs of the proceedings are borne by the state treasury.

Schmidt’s explanation, which lasted just under an hour, was well-structured and all the more detailed. "It is not the task of the court to uncover the possible misconduct in gleusdorf from 2011 to 2016", schmidt made clear. That is the task of the administrative authorities, which had also reacted with operating orders and prohibitions.

It was about five charges

Out of two file trucks full of investigative procedures, five charges had remained. And if the end result is an acquittal, "then that’s just the way it is". The grand jury was concerned only with the five accused cases; the charges were manslaughter by omission, abuse of a ward and grievous bodily harm. "In these five cases, we do not believe that it was as presented in the indictment." The court had evaluated and examined extensive nursing files, service plans and medical documents, and had heard all essential witnesses. "I became to say that we cleared up this case very fundamentally", explained schmidt. There had been no evidence of any missing files or allegedly manipulated documentation.