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Now it is important to dare to be more normal and walk away from “excessive fears,” Weiss said in the APA conversation while at the same time speaking in favor of ending the current testing strategy with too much testing and a move toward “symptom-based diagnosis”.
The situation in hospitals is not alarming for the renowned doctor, who is part of the advisory team of the working group on coronavirus in the Ministry of Health: “We are still a long way from imminent overload. It is important to maintain a sense of proportions. Corona patients make up only a very small percentage of our patients. “
It is about treating all other patients well, “so that they receive the therapy they need,” Weiss agreed with the latest statements by Martin Sprenger, a general practitioner and public health expert from Graz, that the virus should be taken seriously. , but “Take off your headlights and re-illuminate all diseases in the same way.”
“Hospital patients in a manageable range”
Weiss explained that the situation in hospitals remained stable despite the significant increase in the number of infections recently, with “relatively less severe cases”, a mean crown age of around 37 years and the experience that had been gained. Clinical management has improved, fewer patients have to be taken to the intensive care unit and, if they end up there, the stay is considerably shorter.
“At the moment that is manageable,” said the infectologist. He estimates that the proportion of older patients will rise again, but: “If it remains at this level, we will probably get through the winter well.”
“Not all colds should set off an alarm”
In view of the upcoming cold season, Weiss also advocated rationality. “Not every normal cold should immediately set off an alarm,” he emphasized. Therefore, it is important to put the diagnosis back in the hands of the doctors and “finally return to the normal principles of medicine.”
This means that the symptoms should already be cleared up, as with all other diseases, in the low threshold resident area. Establishing diagnostic steps is a medical task.
Suspicious diagnostic test
At the same time, the doctor made it clear that he does not consider the motto “test, test, test” to be effective. “That may have been misinterpreted. It shouldn’t be like testing the general population or testing healthy people who have never had contact with an infected person. The test should be based on a suspicious diagnosis,” Weiss explained.
In addition, “high-risk contacts” and vulnerable people in nursing homes or hospitals must be tested. Furthermore, it is important to continue to focus on areas where health care is not as optimal or people do not have optimal access to medicines, such as refugee homes or workers’ dormitories.
Observing numbers of cases “worth questioning”
Weiss considered it incorrect to consider the number of infections or cases as the only significant criterion and therefore agreed with the statements made recently by medical experts. The infectologist described such evaluations as “worthy of being questioned”.
Ultimately, they would lead to a “mess” that would bring Europe to the brink. Rather, a “common strategy” should be developed at EU level, rather than operating with “mutual travel warnings”. This latest “nonsense” must stop.
“Proportionality is an important point”
“Proportionality is an important point. The infection is there, and you have to look this fact in the eye. You have to rationally classify it as it appears,” Weiss said. You have to learn to “live with this disease”, just as you do with other infectious diseases, and also classify it as another in this series. Furthermore, it is to be hoped that effective prophylaxis will be available in the form of a vaccine, which will mainly protect those who are particularly affected by the disease.
Until then, it is important to keep people committed to “relatively simple measures,” with rules of hygiene and distance, for example, and the principle: “If you are sick, stay home.” Also, there is the necessary clarification in the low threshold area.
“A fine line”
“It is important that social and economic life be preserved. It is very difficult when I do everything I can to prevent infection, but more or less I push the state against the wall,” Weiss said. This is a fine line, you have to steer clear of the fact that everyone in the test area “wants to do even better or show even more” and refrain from “weird stuff” like spraying cable cars or cleaning sidewalks.
