[ad_1]
Will Corona have a flu-like season in the future?
I think it will behave in the same way as the classic beta coronavirus. That is bad news. With seasonal flu we see that it shoots up relatively quickly in December and practically disappears on its own in February. Unfortunately, beta coronaviruses appear earlier and last longer.
So could the seasonal curve have been responsible for the summer’s decline, not the lockdown?
We currently know that the blockade was not responsible for the decline, but that it was already visible two weeks earlier. Blocking as such wouldn’t have been necessary, but in hindsight, being smart is easy.
What measures were not necessary?
Federal schools and kindergartens should not have closed. From a technical point of view, fever measurement at the airport and border closures are also useless. Two million people were checked at the border and five suspected cases were found. At the same time, health policy is under pressure. The citizen demands action. I can live with all this as long as the streets are not flooded with disinfectant like in Wuhan.
As long as the virus remains: How can older people be protected in the long term?
The virus will stay with us. In ten years, you can probably smile about it. It will be a normal winter infection. At the end of the day, there should be a change in behavior. For example, keep your distance in the family area. I have an 84 year old mother in law. She’s sitting at the Sunday lunch table five feet away, at the other end of the table. Keep your distance, refrain from kissing, kissing, and shaking hands – I think this will last for months, if not years.
Are we really faster with testing? You asked for it for the fall.
If a sample arrives at the laboratory today, the result should be ready in the afternoon. Our machines can do this without any problem, it takes about three hours. In autumn, individuals cannot wait days for their results, that is unacceptable.
Are there quick alternatives to the regular PCR test?
Antigen testing, for example, is very promising. You only need to find 46 percent of those infected, that is, one in two people. But, and that’s the good news, they find the very contagious. The test delivers a result in 15 minutes and costs only six or seven euros. I think that in the next two months all doctors will have these immediate tests available.
In Austria there has been no excess mortality so far this year, unlike Spain, Belgium or France. What does that tell us?
Excess mortality is what matters at the end of the day. From a public health point of view, dates of death are critical. Whether someone is alive or not, these are facts that need not be discussed. As for the death toll, Austria can put one with Sternderl on its lapel. Yes, the virus will remain in Austria, but sooner or later a certain basic immunity will emerge.
