Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

A top German doctor who has carried out dozens of post-mortems on coronavirus victims says every victim he examined had signs of a previous serious illness that would have killed them soon anyway.

Prof Klaus Pueschel, 67, said: “My experience so far indicates that COVID-19 is a comparatively harmless viral infection. The fatalities examined by me and had serious previous health issues, and would have died this year anyway.”

He is the director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf where he has so far carried out 100 post-mortems on victims aged between 51 and 99 and his conclusion is that the social impact through the measures imposed were completely out of proportion to the danger opposed.

He told local media: “The way this virus has affected our lives is out of proportion to the risk it poses. I don’t think that the Corona mortality rate will even bring anywhere near one of the main causes of death in our annual mortality.

“All those that we examined had cancer, chronic lung disease, there were heavy smokers or obese people, suffering from diabetes or cardiovascular disease.”

He said these people are already seriously ill, and the coronavirus was the final straw.

He said the fear was primarily from the speed with which the virus spread, as there were still very little immune protection. But he said the chances of anything similar to what happened in Italy happening in Germany were very slim, as the country had a great healthcare system and added: “I convinced that we can master this pandemic.”

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