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The federal scientific working group Covid assumes that the measures implemented would not be enough to stop the spread of the new variant of the virus. In the event that the virus takes hold in Switzerland, the working group is offering the possibility of further measures.
“We are constantly monitoring the situation and then we will discuss what further measures can be indicated,” said Martin Ackermann, chair of the Task Force.
The estimates assumed that the mutation increases the number of reproductions by 0.4, Ackermann said. This means that the number of new infections is likely to rise again dramatically if the virus spreads in Switzerland.
The R-value in Switzerland is currently above 1, despite additional measures taken. In late fall, the R-value fell with the measures taken in late October, said Tanja Stadler, also a member of the task force. But “everything that has been done in the last ten days has failed to bring the R-value below 1,” Stadler said. “Even in French-speaking Switzerland, where the R-value was well below 1, it is around 1.”
Whether the mutated virus is already in Switzerland is still unclear or has yet to be tested. In Switzerland, many labs are now busy sequencing a large number of samples from infected people so that the new variant of the virus can be detected, Stadler said. “So we hope to have more information during the holidays on whether the variant has arrived.
