The German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) has compared hospital treatments and inpatient cases for the Corona-impacted year 2020 with the Covid-19-free year 2019.
According to the report, there were 2.5 million fewer inpatient treatment cases in 2020 than a year earlier, when 18.9 million people were hospitalized. The analysis thus showed that 16.4 million people were treated in hospitals, which represents 13 percent fewer cases. 39.4 percent of those admitted as inpatients, or 6.4 million people, subsequently also underwent a surgical procedure. 680,000 fewer surgeries, equivalent to about more than 10 percent, were performed, in part to free up clinic capacity for Covid 19 sufferers.
Finally, in April 2020, infection events picked up rapidly, resulting in 35 percent more inpatient admissions than in March of the same year. To keep bed capacity free, areas of rheumatology, down 21.5 percent, otolaryngology, down -21.2 percent, and pediatrics, down -20.5 percent, saw the largest declines. Only the departments of cardiology, gastroenterology and obstetrics saw case numbers increase in the low single digits.
The evaluation by the Federal Statistical Office recorded the highest number of corona cases among those over 60-80 years of age at 36 percent, followed by those over 80 years of age at 33 percent. The large group of younger patients accounted for 31 percent of inpatient treatment cases. October, November and December 2020 represented the strongest months. Here, however, November stood out with 54,282 cases, followed closely by December with just under 50,000 cases. January, February and July, on the other hand, were the quietest months. The „2020/2021 year-end patients“ are not included in the statistics.
Source: www.kma-online.de