Germany to cover costs of foreign virus patients

This picture handed out by the Land NRW federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia shows the inside of a MedEvac special military airplane equipped with an intensive care unit, on March 28, 2020 at the Cologne-Bonn airport in Cologne, western Germany, prior to the take-off to Bergamo, Italy, from where six patients infected with the new coronavirus were to be transported to the western federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia for further treatment. (AFP/Mark HERMENAU / various sources)

Germany will cover the cost for treating novel coronavirus patients taken in from European Union neighbour countries as a gesture of goodwill, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Monday.

Germany has been spared the worst of the coronavirus crisis seen in some of its hard-hit European neighbours, and has taken in patients — mainly from France — to relieve pressure on their overburdened healthcare systems.

A total of 229 foreign patients have been treated in Germany, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said Monday — 130 from France, 44 from Italy and 55 from the Netherlands.

Their treatment has so far cost about 20 million euros ($21.7 million), according to Spahn.

“Germany will cover the treatment costs of these patients, that is what we understand by European solidarity,” Spahn said ahead of a meeting of ministers tackling the virus crisis on Monday.

“The willingness and capacity is there to admit more if necessary,” he added.

The number of coronavirus deaths and infections in Germany has remained well below some of its neighbours.

As of Monday, Europe’s biggest economy had over 140,000 confirmed cases and 4,404 deaths, while Spain and Italy have reported more than 20,000 deaths each. France has close to 20,000 fatalities while Britain has more than 16,000.

Germany had 28,000 intensive care beds before the start of the crisis and has since increased that number to 30,000.

Over 12,600 beds remained free Sunday according to the Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (DIVI).

Spahn’s announcement came as many parts of Germany reopened some shops on Monday after weeks of lockdown.

The health minister said Friday the pandemic was “under control”.

Comments

See how Tinubu reacts to #EndSARS protests, says police reforms has begun

See how Tinubu reacts to #EndSARS protests, says police reforms has begun National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu has said the protest against police brutality in Nigeria is within the constitutional right of Nigerians. “Asiwaju Tinubu believes in the right of Nigerians to freedom of expression, assembly, and protest where and when necessary, he has always canvassed the need for people to explore peaceful channels to ventilate their views and demands,” Tinubu said in a statement by his media aide Tunde Rahman. “He believes the #EndSARS protesters have made their demands, which the Federal Government is studying.” Tinubu’s statement comes after being alleged of being one of the sponsors of the ongoing nationwide protest against brutality, extortion, harassment and extrajudicial killing by police personnel. The Cattle’s Breeders Association known as Miyetti Allah had earlier accused Tinubu of using the protest to distort the administration of President Muh...

President Trump vetoes congressional resolution limiting his military authority against Iran

President Trump vetoes congressional resolution limiting his military authority against Iran US President Donald Trump, has vetoed the Iran War Powers resolution agreed by the Senate and House of Representatives, calling it a "very insulting resolution" and argued the move of the Lawmakers was "based on misunderstandings of facts and law" in a statement. The bipartisan resolution was created to limit Trump's authority to use military force against Iran without congressional approval, after the President's decision to order a strike that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in January. Before a resolution is made a law in the US, the Senate, House of Reps have to vote on it, when an agreement is reached it is then sent to the White House for the President to sign. Presidents sometimes veto laws, but the US Senate must have over 2/3rds of votes to override a President's veto, a scenario unlikely to occur. Trump in a statement issued by the ...

Pompeo presses China but acknowledges ‘no certainty’ virus from lab

Pompeo presses China but acknowledges ‘no certainty’ virus from lab US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday renewed his widely contested charge that the coronavirus pandemic likely originated in a Chinese laboratory, but acknowledged there was no certainty. Pompeo renewed his call for global pressure on China to provide more data on the origins of the illness, which has killed more than 250,000 people worldwide and hobbled the global economy. “We don’t have certainty, and there is significant evidence that this came from the laboratory. Those statements can both be true,” the former CIA chief told reporters when pressed on his statements. “The American people remain at risk because we do not know … whether it began in the lab or whether it began someplace else,” he said. “There’s an easy way to find out the answer to that — transparency, openness — the kinds of things that nations do when they really want to be part of solving a global pandemic.” Pompeo ha...

Gtechone

Search This Blog