Germany gears up for 2nd virus wave

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Left empty as the coronavirus pandemic forced events to be cancelled, Berlin´s exhibition centre Messe is getting a makeover with the help of German soldiers -- to reemerge as a hospital in a few weeks´ time.

Wires are still hanging from the ceilings, but when construction is finished, the vast site will be able to host up to 1,000 patients. Even as Germany begins easing curbs on public life to halt contagion of the virus, authorities are busy ramping up their capacity to deal with a second wave of infections.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly warned that Germany must not rest on its laurels even if the infection rate has dropped, saying it is still "on thin ice".

Virologist Christian Drosten of Berlin´s Charite hospital has also warned that the virus could return with a "totally different force". "The virus will continue to spread in the course of the next weeks and months," Drosten told public broadcaster NDR, adding that a second wave would be dangerous as it could pop up "everywhere at the same time". "We may be in the process of completely squandering our headstart," he said, warning against complacency.

So Germany, which has won international praise for its widespread testing system as well as huge capacity in treating patients, is still throwing vast resources at increasing the number of intensive care beds equipped with ventilators.

At the university hospital in Aachen, close to the Dutch border, dozens of beds lie empty in case of a resurgence in cases. "We are ready to react dynamically," said Gernot Marx, director of intensive care at the hospital, which treated some of the first serious cases earlier this year.