Air crews move patients from France to Germany

German Air Ambulance crews have been helping transport patients from countries across Europe as hospitals struggle to cope with the number of coronavirus cases, UK broadcaster Sky News reports.

As the global pandemic continues one crew in Rheinmunster has been flying to France and Switzerland to help move patients.

One area of particular concern is Colmar, in the east of France, where the town's hospital is struggling to cope with the amount of virus patients.

When one bed becomes available in the hospital's ICU there are around ten people looking to take it, Sky News reports. Around 170 patients have been transferred from the hospital to other hospitals around France and other countries to receive treatment.

Dr Jocelyn Andre, who works in the ICU at Colmar Hospital, said doctors were constantly having to adapt the way they worked, doing their best, but "flying blind" in this unprecedented situation.

According to the Johns Hopkins University, France has more than 82,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and mourns more than 10,000 deaths.

Germany has more confirmed cases with over 113,000 recorded infections, but a lower death toll of 2,349 fatalities.

And with cases rising Germany as well as other European countries, Air Ambulance crews are being called upon to make more transfers at home as well as internationally.

Dr Gerhild Gruner, head of critical care for the German Air Ambulance Service, said: "It's a national problem for us here, as well as in France. But there are hotspots, spread across the country."

Crews are using a new piece of equipment to help transport those who are infected called an Epishuttle, Sky News reports.

Designed in Norway, the large pod is sealed off allowing medical teams to move patients without the need of protective equipment.

The global pandemic that has sickened at least 1,490,790 people, killed more than 88,000 worldwide, crippled economies and forced restrictions on the movement of millions of people in an effort to stop the virus from spreading further and overwhelming health care systems.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.