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Of the 735 deaths in Hamburg that were linked to Corona in the past year, 618 actually died of the virus after a forensic medical examination.

The Institute for Forensic Medicine at Eppendorf University Medical Center (UKE) not only examined deaths in hospitals and nursing homes, but also those who were noticed after death at home or during an after-the-fact examination for other reasons, such as the head of the institute, Benjamin Ondruschka, on Thursday explained.

Seven percent of the 735 deaths - around 50 - were infected with the virus, but the infection was not the cause of death.

The relatives of the remaining 70 deceased did not want an autopsy or documents were missing.

The Robert Koch Institute reported 632 corona deaths for Hamburg last year.

The results of the studies also confirmed the positive effects of blood thinners.

“Our autopsies of the deceased have shown that the Covid 19 sufferers could still have blood clots in their pulmonary arteries despite the administration of blood thinners,” said Ondruschka.

In the statistical analysis, however, longer survival times between infection and death would have been shown since a change in therapy.

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As early as May last year, it was noticed at the Hamburg autopsies that Covid-19 leads to an unusually high number of thromboses and pulmonary embolisms.

As a result, the nationwide treatment guidelines were changed.

Since then, doctors have been advised to treat patients with a blood thinner based on an individual risk assessment.

The head of the Clinic for Intensive Care Medicine, Stefan Kluge, announced a new guideline for the treatment of Covid 19 intensive care patients in Germany for Monday.

The recommendations made in collaboration with 14 medical societies continued to advise the administration of the blood thinner heparin, albeit in moderation.

Testing is the focus of the guideline.

Patients and employees should therefore be tested for the corona virus twice a week.

It is also recommended not to start invasive ventilation too early.

According to Ondruschka, the average age of the Hamburg corona deaths was 83 years.

75 percent of the deceased were older than 76 years.

Of the dead between the ages of 29 and 100, 55 percent were male and 45 percent female.

Only seven dead, so only a good one percent, were younger than 50 years.

Everyone in this group had suffered from a pre-existing condition such as a heart condition or a tumor.

It is said that only in very few exceptional cases have people died of Covid-19 without any recognizable previous illness.

According to one hypothesis, these patients might have had an extremely high viral load or were very vulnerable at the time of infection, says forensic doctor Ondruschka.

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The 618 corona deaths accounted for around 3.3 percent of all 18,500 deaths in Hamburg last year.

There was a significant excess mortality in April and December and - not due to Corona - in August.

Ondruschka's institute has been investigating special deaths since January.

These include those who died young, those without previous illnesses or with a virus mutation.

A dead person with the British virus variant has also been examined.

This person, who did not come from Hamburg, was a "very classic case".

Forensic doctor Benjamin Ondruschka and intensive care doctor Stefan Kluge report on the results of the autopsies

Source: picture alliance / dpa / dpa / Pool

The number of corona deaths in Hamburg and Germany is currently falling, explains Ondruschka.

When asked whether vaccinating people with the highest priority would drastically reduce mortality, the forensic doctor replied: "That is the very optimistic hope." In his institute, dead people who had been vaccinated against Corona have also been examined.

A causal connection, i.e. that the vaccination led to death, could not be discovered.

The forensic doctor suspects that in individual cases vaccinated people will also die of corona because the vaccination protection is not always fully developed.

Above all, the vaccination protects against severe courses of the disease, stressed Kluge.

"We have not yet treated a patient in the intensive care unit who was vaccinated." He appealed to citizens to get vaccinated.

The discussion about the vaccine Astrazeneca irritates him.

The common side effects after the first dose are the fully expected response of the body and not a cause for concern.

“We can and should be very, very happy that we already have three approved vaccines in Germany at this point in time.

And the discussion about which vaccine is better, I see myself as a luxury discussion, "said the intensive care doctor.

With Astrazeneca, the employees of the UKE would also be vaccinated.