According to the intensive care physician Christian Karagiannidis, the wave of respiratory diseases in Germany has reached its peak. "We currently know that the very strong wave of infections has just peaked and that the number of infections will hopefully decrease in the coming days," said the President of the German Society for Internal Intensive Care Medicine to the editorial network Germany (RND).

There are already signs of a slight decline in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections and other infectious diseases.

Nevertheless, Karagiannidis warned that there could be bottlenecks in clinics on New Year's Eve and New Year - but regionally and not nationwide. In view of the tense situation in the hospitals, he called on people to hold back on firecrackers on New Year's Eve or to do without them altogether.

With a view to the pandemic, the emergency doctor, who is also a member of the Federal Government’s Corona Expert Council, was optimistic. "I expect that the pandemic will now increasingly come to an end," Karagiannidis told RND and answered in the affirmative when asked whether the pandemic would be over after the winter. Certainly there will still be one or the other small wave. However, the immunity situation of the population is solid and there are significantly fewer Covid patients in the intensive care units.