Coronavirus: Germany looks back on a year of loss

In Germany, around 80,000 people have died from and with Covid-19. It’s been over a year since Germany, on March 9, 2020, confirmed its first two coronavirus deaths: an 89-year-old woman in the town of Essen, and a 78-year-old man in Heinsberg, a town that was badly affected at the beginning of the pandemic.

Since those very early days, DW has reported on those who died, on the relatives they left behind, and the people who have taken care of them.

This Sunday, German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier led the official memorial service in Berlin for those who lost their lives to the coronavirus.

Steinmeier has frequently drawn attention to the issue of mourning and death, and earlier this year he suggested the idea of placing a candle in the window to commemorate those who lost their lives to the coronavirus. 

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  Remembering Germany’s coronavirus victims

  A moment of solidarity

  Back in January, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier asked citizens to place a light or a candle in their windows in memory of Germany’s coronavirus victims. Steinmeier said the lights intended to “show compassion at a dark time.”

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  Remembering Germany’s coronavirus victims

  Speaking to those left behind

  In March Germany’s head of state, spoke to affected families. For many, one of the biggest problems has been not being able to visit relatives in hospital and, in the worst case, having to watch from a distance how they die alone.

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  Remembering Germany’s coronavirus victims

  Helping those in need

  To help those who are critically ill in intensive care units, many hospitals have completely restructured the way they work. In view of the increasing number of infections, officials are warning that ICUs are filling fast and urgent action is needed.

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  Remembering Germany’s coronavirus victims

  Illness and death

  The pandemic has particularly affected older people and those with preexisting conditions. According to Germany’s public health institute, 85 percent of those who died were older than 70. But there are indications COVID may have a lasting effect on the lungs and other organs of those who survive.

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  Remembering Germany’s coronavirus victims

  The battle against COVID-19 variants

  Virologists are working hard to counter virus variants. According to health officials, the coronavirus variant that was first detected in Britain, known as B.1.1.7, now accounts for 90% of recorded cases in Germany.

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  Remembering Germany’s coronavirus victims

  Gigantic testing effort

  Large testing stations, such as this one at Gütersloh Airport, are part of Germany’s strategy to deal with the pandemic. Another key element is speeding up the rate of vaccination. After a slow and problematic start, more and more Germans are now getting the vaccine. As of March 16, at least 18 per cent of Germans had received at least one jab.

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  Remembering Germany’s coronavirus victims

  Isolation and loneliness

  “No medicine is as effective as having your family close,” say leading physicians and palliative care specialists. As Germany increases testing and vaccinations, restricting contact between Covid 19 patients and their relatives should remain the absolute exception.

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  Remembering Germany’s coronavirus victims

  At their limits

  Germany fared comparatively well during the first wave of the pandemic, but the end of last year saw Germany’s death toll spike. Germany recorded more than 10,000 coronavirus deaths in December alone. Many crematoriums were at their limits, such as this one in the state of Saxony.

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  Remembering Germany’s coronavirus victims

  International commemoration

  According to the WHO, just under three million people worldwide have died from COVID-19. After the US, South America has been particularly affected, especially Brazil. Victims are being honored everywhere. In the pedestrian zone of San Salvador, for example, photos of coronavirus victims are a reminder of the pandemic.

  Author: Wolfgang Dick, Thomas Sparrow

No chance to say goodbye

One of the most devastating experiences for those affected has been not being able to visit their relatives in hospital and, in the worst case, having to watch from a distance how they die alone.

Hospitals and nursing homes have been forced to temporarily restrict visits, which means that some coronavirus patients, and even people with other illnesses, have died without their relatives constantly by their side.

DW has also met people who accompany the dying or their relatives.

The Kleibömer family, for example, recounted how difficult their experience was.

Funeral director Birgit Scheffler’s work involves something that has been next to impossible during the pandemic: comforting the bereaved while keeping her distance.

Scheffler has tried to support her clients in their time of grief, as well as help them so that they can heal.

The pandemic has also hit nursing and old people’s homes hard.

There have been serious coronavirus outbreaks and as a result many deaths, which explains why Germany has especially tried to protect the oldest and most vulnerable.

In April, care homes spent another quiet Easter.

And while Germany managed to keep the number of deaths comparatively low during the first months of the pandemic, the situation became much more serious at the end of last year. 

Among the regions particularly hard hit was Saxony, in the eastern part of the country.

Undertakers, there were well aware of this sad reality. They could hardly keep up, and the coffins were piling up in funeral homes. DW visited a crematorium in Saxony. 

The situation in hospitals and intensive care units has been especially difficult for many months. DW reporter Andrea Grunau observed this when she followed nurse Andrea Krautkrämer, who works in an intensive care unit in the western city of Koblenz.

“You do everything in your power — and it’s not enough,” she said. “You suffer with every patient. And you hope.”

She is not the only one who is hoping: Since the beginning of the year, the number of deaths in Germany has fallen. This could be an initial success of the country’s vaccination rollout.

However, the number has risen slightly again since Easter.

And experts are also warning about the growing infection numbers: intensive care beds are becoming scarcer and Germany will probably still see many people die of coronavirus.

While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society, with an eye toward understanding this year’s elections and beyond. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing, to stay on top of developments as Germany enters the post-Merkel era.

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-germany-looks-back-on-a-year-of-loss/a-57214572?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom