German hospitals sound alarm in pandemic surge
Intensive care beds filling up and health staff running short
18 November, 12:32While the absolute number of patients in intensive care still lies below the peak a year ago, this time around, hospitals are also ailing from the double whammy of a shortfall in personnel that has seriously hampered their ability to cope. "Last week, on Wednesday or Thursday, we had to transfer a patient by helicopter to Merano," said Thomas Marx, 43, medical director at the hospital in Freising, a town with 50,000 inhabitants that is about 350 kilometres (220 miles) away by road. (ANSA-AFP).