The LVR Clinic even stopped admitting patients at the weekend. By Monday, 20 flu cases had been confirmed at the hospital on Kaiser-Karl-Ring (15 cases of influenza type A and five of type B) and employees had also fallen ill, said Professor Markus Banger, the hospital’s medical director. The hospital team decided on the safety measure in consultation with the health department and halted admissions for five to seven days.

Additional internal precautions have been taken to protect employees, patients and visitors: sick patients and patients suspected of being infected with the flu virus were confined to their rooms. Patients were to stay in their rooms where possible and group sessions are not taking place at the moment - a measure that is not so easy to implement, especially in a psychiatric clinic.

The affected wards are also being disinfected twice a day in addition to regular cleaning. Nursing staff are protecting themselves with special face masks, gowns and caps. Pregnant women and employees with a chronic illness are being released from work. People are advised to not to visit at the moment.

The LVR Clinic has put together an emergency plan with the university hospitals in Bonn and Cologne, the Marien Hospital in Euskirchen and the LVR hospitals in Cologne and Düren to ensure psychiatric care. As a precaution, the LVR branches in Eitorf and Meckenheim are also not admitting any more patients. Banger said it would be decided in the next few days when the admissions ban would be lifted.

“We at the University Hospital Bonn have observed a marginal increase in flu cases, but do not see this as an unusual development,” said Jan-Christian Wasmuth, a senior doctor at the University Hospital of Bonn (UKB). There have so far been a total of 100 cases diagnosed at the UKB. Wasmuth said there was currently no reason to stop admissions. The health department is also not aware of unusual illness numbers at other Bonn hospitals. There is also no “significant change to the previous year’s figures.”

Surgeries, on the other hand, are recording increased cases of flu and flu-like illnesses. “There have never been so many patients during my time here,” explained Sina Schneider, an employee of the Piper/Cersani-Pieper practice. Patients are being treated during the lunch break because of their number. In Shiva Pourvahidi’s practice, 90 per cent of the patients have flu-like symptoms. “There are more working patients, students and schoolchildren, but fewer pensioners,” she says.

The bus and train company Stadtwerke Bus und Bahn (SWB), which transports tens of thousands of commuters daily, has also not been spared from the virus. The Line 61 trains, which were cancelled last week because of the high number of sick staff, are back on schedule, “But we are continuing to notice that a flu outbreak is underway,” said SWB spokesman Werner Schui when asked.

Original text: Sabrina Bauer, Max Müller, Philipp Königs. Translation: kc