German ICUs had sixfold rise in coronaviurs patients in last month, says association

FILE PHOTO: Berlin firefighters emergency ambulance paramedics transport on a stretcher a patient with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Havelhoehe community hospital in Berlin, Germany, October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Germany has seen a sixfold increase in the number of people being treated in intensive care units for the coronavirus in the last month, the head of the DIVI association for intensive and emergency medicine said on Tuesday.

Many hospital employees are working at full capacity, said DIVI's Uwe Janssens, adding that hospitals should move away from regular operations when there are high levels of coronavirus infections.

(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michelle Adair)