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It was not until the end of September that the epidemiologist Marcel Salathé (45) said in an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung”: “It looks very, very good now”. But now the numbers are increasing again. They are as high as in April during the confinement.
However, the epidemiologist remains calm. “No, I still don’t see a second wave,” he says in an interview with the “Aargauer Zeitung.” Although the curve is rising and approaching the spring values again, the curves cannot be compared with each other.
The reason: it was tested much less in spring than now. “We lost nine out of ten cases at that time,” he says. Switzerland is also very far from a situation like Spain with long-term exponential growth. According to Salathé, this does not mean that such a situation is impossible in this country.
Monday 13
Marcel Salathé at his Campus Biotech workplace in Geneva.
Marcel Salathé (44) is a specialist in digital epidemiology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. He studied in Basel and did his PhD at the ETH in Zurich. After eight years in the United States at Stanford and Pennsylvania Universities, Marcel Salathé returned to EPFL in 2015. Salathé is a member of the Covid-19 Taskforce, the crown scientific advisory board of the federal and cantonal government, where he leads the group of experts in Digital Epidemiology.
“Still in the process of knowing the virus”
Salathé explains that the figures have increased again in recent weeks: “Based on some data from the cantons, I suppose that certain cluster effects play a role. In Zurich there were some on the salsa scene, ”he says. The main question now is whether growth will continue in the long term. If so, that would be cause for concern.
Therefore, Salathé believes that it is important to also analyze the local situation. “In my opinion, that is the strength of the system: that they investigate the cases locally and take measures that work there.” In his view, a balance between prevention and response is still needed. But: “We must not forget that we are still learning about the virus,” he says.
