Hospital admissions in Switzerland have doubled – life – knowledge

The coronavirus has lost much of its horror. Fortunately, only a few die from it right now, with zero to four deaths per day. But after the curve for people who tested positive for corona has long risen, hospital admissions have doubled in the past week. In the last two weeks of September there were around 10 daily hospitalizations, last week the average was 20.

On Tuesday 39 cases were added that had to be admitted to the hospital. The graph shows the new reported hospitalizations distributed retrospectively to the actual entry date. The cantons of Jura, Neuchâtel and Geneva have the highest number of patients per 100,000 inhabitants. In general, western Switzerland is affected the most.

However, the number of hospitalizations varies greatly from one canton to another. A look at the statistics shows that with an average of seven days (until Monday). It is a snapshot. The average number of hospitalizations was in the last week, with the following cantons at the top of the scale:

1. Jura: 11.3 hospitalized per 100,000 inhabitants (8 people)
2. Geneva: 11.1 (56 people)
3. Neuchâtel: 5.4 (10 people)
4. Train: 4.0 (5 people)
5. Freiburg: 3.7 (12 people)

The two cantons of Uri and Glarus did not report any hospitalizations during this period. Nidwalden also has few cases (0.3 hospitalized per 100,000 inhabitants), Basel-Land (0.6), Basel city (0.9), Grisons (1.0), Aargau (1,3) and Solothurn (1.4). too Zürich it registers quite a few cases with 2.3 cases per one hundred thousand inhabitants.

Lower than in spring, still

However, it should be noted that while the number of hospitalizations is increasing, it is at a low level compared to the spring. The graph below shows the absolute number of newly hospitalized people per day in Switzerland as a whole.

Other than that, unlike in the spring, hospitals are now much better prepared. Staff are trained, treatment methods and processes are clear. For example, Insel Spital in Bern said last week: “The Insel Group is ready for the fall.” Restaurants, event organizers, schools and other institutions are also sensitized and have already developed protection concepts.

But some of those who tested positive in recent days will only be hospitalized in the next few days if their condition worsens. In any case, development in individual regions where the coronavirus appears to be spreading rapidly must be critically observed. For example in Geneva, where yesterday 63 people were again hospitalized with Covid-19, 9 of them were in intensive care.

Nicola Low, an epidemiologist with the Corona Task Force, says in an interview: “What we know for sure is that the spread of the virus is not being effectively prevented.”