Covid-19 leads to severe hospital shortages in northern German state

Hospitals in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein are facing severe shortages due to Covid-19 cases among members of staff, a local hospital chief told dpa on Monday.

Germany's northernmost state hosted the Kiel Week, billed as one of the world's largest sailing regattas, in late June.

Patient numbers across the state are "noteworthy to difficult," said Patrick Reimund, the managing director of the Schleswig-Holstein hospital association. Emergency rooms in particular were disproportionately overloaded, he noted.

He said one key factor for the spread of the virus may have been the Kiel Week, which took place from June 18-26.

Last week already, the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein announced that it would temporarily close some wards, with 479 employees in quarantine as of Friday.

"Since then it has certainly become more," said spokesperson Oliver Grieve. "We had an incredibly tense weekend."

He said the medical care centre would seek compensation for lost revenue after having to postpone or suspend scheduled treatments.