[ad_1]
The number of new corona infections is skyrocketing again. Today, Friday, experts from the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) will once again appear before the media and explain the situation. But talking about a situation “under control” in recent weeks will no longer be enough. VIEW lists the most important open questions that office manager Anne Lévy must answer.
And the quarantine list?
Anyone coming from a risky country has to be quarantined for ten days. But the list of risks for BAG is getting more and more absurd: Switzerland itself has long exceeded the value of 60 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants for two weeks. This means that travelers from countries with lower infection rates than Switzerland must be quarantined here. According to various media reports, the BAG is now “looking into” an adjustment: it would be time for answers.
Should the quarantine time be shortened?
The German epidemiologist Christian Drosten (48) put the proposal into play for the first time: shorten the quarantine to five days and then test it. Because although it can take up to two weeks for symptoms to appear, experience shows that in most cases a test can provide clarity after five days. According to the BAG, this is also being verified; there is still a pending answer.
What can rapid tests do?
Everyone awaits rapid tests. Instead of the complicated PCR smear test, these tests, which are produced by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, among others, should show a result in 15 minutes with a simple saliva sample. According to BAG, the problem is that these tests are less reliable. Use outside a laboratory, for example by the family doctor, is being considered. But this review is ongoing; it would be time for BAG to provide clear answers.
How long will testing capabilities last?
Questions also arise with the standard tests above: On the one hand, the federal government has launched a major test drive. On the other hand, several laboratories and hospitals are already warning that test material is becoming scarce. When asked by BLICK, BAG admits that a “limited quantity” of material should be expected in the coming months, despite the fact that BAG has already been able to reach agreements with suppliers to increase delivery quantities in the future.
When will the contact tracking database finally arrive?
The FOPH has been promising this since August: a national database that collects all cantonal contact tracing data, and which hopefully also provides more information on where people are infected. Promised in early September, the latest status is that the database should be ready to go “in the course of October.” Now October has ended a third. And the database is not there yet. (gbl)
VIEW will report live on the BAG press conference starting at 1.30 pm.
