In the past three years, they have treated 4,262 patients suffering from corona at the Leipzig University Hospital, 618 of whom died, and in some cases more than 40 patients with Covid-19 were in the intensive care unit at the same time.
Currently there is not a single one.
“Actually, the virus no longer plays a role in the hospital,” says Sebastian Stehr, clinic director and head of the in-house Covid-19 task force.
"We're back in normal business."
Carlota Brandis
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This not only means that operations that have been postponed can be made up for.
But also that treatments are planned regularly again, beds and staff in the intensive care unit are distributed as before the pandemic and surgical resources are available for the entire hospital operation.
Between the past waves of the pandemic, there was not this normality in the university hospital, says Stehr.
Because when hospital operations were just starting up again, the next wave came.
“And we had to shut everything down again.” This time, however, the clinic director is confident “that we have reached the point where the pandemic is becoming endemic and no longer offers such a challenge”.
Only signs, references to wards and the obligation to wear masks would remind of the past phase in the Leipzig University Hospital, "which you don't want to experience again".
In addition, there are 2,000 weekly corona tests for employees and visitors.
“There is a lot of work in the background that simply has to be done with the existing corona measures.” However, Stehr no longer sees the need for this.
He hopes that employees, patients and visitors can now return to normality in a further step and can normally do without tests and masks.
No waiting for the autumn wave
That is not the case yet.
In the healthcare system, the Infection Protection Act continues to apply nationwide.
There are also other restrictions, such as the number of visitors in hospitals.
"The whole of society has the feeling that Corona is over now," says Henriette Neumeyer, Deputy Chairwoman of the German Hospital Association (DKG).
In the clinics, this is reflected on the one hand in the return to normal operations, on the other hand, strict rules still apply here.
Neumeyer believes that this is sometimes no longer proportionate, for example if testing is still mandatory but the free tests for hospital visitors expire as planned at the end of February.
According to the DKG, the number of patients in German hospitals who have tested positive for corona has more than halved from 19,000 to 8,523 since the beginning of January.
Even if the number of infections was previously low, Neumeyer sees the current situation as different: "We knew there was another autumn wave coming." However, the pandemic waves are giving way to endemic dynamics.
The DKG therefore advocates measures that also include the "reality of life" of people in the health care system.
Corona has long been one of several dominant respiratory diseases in family doctor's surgeries.
“In addition to Covid-19, we are currently dealing with a number of infectious diseases in the practices,” says Markus Beier, Federal Chairman of the German Association of General Practitioners.
In addition to patients who tested positive for corona, there were numerous people infected with influenza or the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Especially in November and December, the situation was tense because of the sum of these diseases.
"The work situation is consistently 100 percent - previously it was 120." Beier hopes that practices will soon be relieved.
Normality is also returning beyond the clinics
Gernot Marx, Vice President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), does not give the all-clear either.
Although Corona is no longer a problem in the emergency stations, some intensive care units are in restricted operation.
This is due to the scarce nursing staff and postponed operations that now have to be processed.
That's why the pressure is still high: "It's still a big task that we have to overcome."
The DIVI hopes for a nationwide uniform solution to the corona measures in the healthcare system - and "not a patchwork quilt".
Marx, unlike Stehr and Neumeyer, believes that greater caution there than in other areas is still justified at the moment.
At the same time, he is optimistic, because since the beginning of January alone, the number of corona patients in intensive care units in Germany has more than halved from 1,500 to 600 today.
The fact that the number of infections is already so low at this time of year gives reason to hope “that Corona will now really develop into an endemic and that we can get out of the pandemic”.
Beyond the clinics, normality is returning these days, and protective measures in public life are no longer applicable nationwide.
From February 2nd, masks will no longer be compulsory in long-distance transport.
The federal states are also following with relaxed and expiring regulations.
While Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein have not had a mask requirement in local public transport for a long time, the remaining twelve federal states will follow suit by February 3rd.
In all federal states except Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the obligation to isolate will no longer apply until February 3rd if the corona test is positive.