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The game of the Swiss soccer team is postponed
Due to crown cases in the Ukraine team, the match Switzerland – Ukraine will not be played today. The UEFA Nations League match should have originally taken place in Lucerne tonight. It is not yet clear when it will recover.
Will there be more massive tests soon?
About 10,000 more PCR tests were done last week than this week, says a journalist. There is no recognizable explanation for this, Masserey responds. “It would be better if the same number, and indeed many, people were continuously evaluated. Perhaps there are delays in the reporting system. We assume that rapid tests will increase the total number of tests. “
This ends the BAG press conference. Thanks for your interest.
Can rapid tests help reduce the positive rate?
Masserey: “If we did faster tests, the positive rate would decrease.” This could better control the epidemic. But it is up to the cantons to expand these capacities.
Preparing for ongoing vaccines
Masserey emphasizes that a great deal of logistical work is currently being done regarding vaccination. The army will be responsible for the storage and distribution of the vaccine in the cantons, adds Stettbacher.
When asked about a possible closure, experts evade. “If I had a strict lockdown, it would probably reduce the number of cases considerably. But you also run the risk of the numbers spiking huge again as soon as you relax. It is essential to avoid these yo-yo effects, ”says Masserey.
Are massive tests planned in Switzerland?
Is the BAG also considering mass testing, as Austria is currently considering? Masserey says that BAG will closely monitor what is happening abroad and then include the results in its deliberations. However, the currently available tests are not validated for mass testing.
The main objective: to prevent hospital overload
A journalist wants to know if the BAG is not disturbing the population with the renewed forecast of hospital congestion, which has not yet come true. Masserey emphasizes that forecasts are there to warn and not to happen. “The top priority is to prevent the hospital from being overloaded.”
Stettbacher adds: “The intensive care units are very busy, but they have accumulated additional reserves.” The situation is challenging.
Who should get vaccinated first?
Masserey says there is simply too little information available on potential vaccines at this time to say that. It is certainly important to protect risk groups first. Certainly no general vaccination requirement is provided; at most, the Epidemic Law establishes a vaccination requirement for certain groups of people, such as caregivers. Then you will have to look at it, nothing has been decided yet.
BAG expert asks for more patience
The most important thing is to keep your distance and limit contacts, says Masserey. How to achieve this, there are several measures. “Switzerland has chosen a middle ground. We limit activities as much as necessary, but we want economic and social life to develop as far as possible. The emerging decline in the number of cases is still not enough. But since there is a delay in deaths and hospitalizations, we need a little patience, ”says Masserey.
Do rapid tests work well?
Regarding rapid tests, he still can’t draw any conclusions, Masserey continues. It will probably take longer to be able to assess whether rapid tests are working well with family doctors. “I’m not aware that this should be particularly critical.”
Masserey: “Evidence that the measures are working”
The Scientific Task Force recommends additional measures, such as closing restaurants. Masserey from BAG says: “These are considerations that we constantly make. We observe the development of the data and consider what measures make sense. But that is a political decision. “
There are signs that the measures taken so far are already having an effect. “We assume that the slowdown is due to the measures. But what is decisive is the behavior of the population. “Be cautiously optimistic, says Masserey.
What is the current testing capacity?
Virginie Masserey says the testability is currently very high because she now has the rapid test. So there is actually more capacity than the amount of testing that is currently running. “We don’t really know why the number of tests is decreasing.”
Deaths take three weeks
The death rate is still very high. A journalist wants to know why so many people are currently dying in Switzerland while the infection rate appears to be decreasing. “There are so many deaths because it is a very serious disease. There is also a delay of around three weeks in hospitalizations and deaths. Then they appear a little later in the statistics, ”explains Masserey.
Andreas Stettbacher: “Certified intensive care beds are practically full”
Andreas Stettbacher from the Coordinated Health Service (KSD): “There are 876 certified intensive care beds in Switzerland.” There are currently 240 additional free and non-certified intensive care beds throughout Switzerland. These were created additionally. “Certified beds are practically full throughout Switzerland.” Patients from heavily used regions are increasingly being transferred to other regions. This ensures that reception capacity is guaranteed in all locations. “We call on hospitals to move 80% occupancy intensive care patients.”
Hospitals still have small reserves
In 150 acute care hospitals, the occupancy of beds is currently recorded twice a day and there are almost 24,000 beds throughout Switzerland, explains Andreas Stettbacher, delegate of the Federal Council for Coordinated Medical Service (KSD). “There are a total of 22,211 acute care beds, of which 16,889 are occupied. There is a 24 percent reserve. 21 percent of intensive care beds are still available. “
In both areas there was a slight increase in patients, Stettbacher continued. 18.7 percent of patients in acute beds are Covid 19 patients. In intensive care units, 60.2 percent of all patients have corona. The number of patients with a crown continues to increase in both areas.
Masserey: “We absolutely have to maintain the measures”
Virginie Masserey of the BAG says the situation in hospitals remains tense despite the stabilization of the number of infections. The number of people in intensive care continues to increase, although more slowly than before. “Therefore, we absolutely have to maintain the measures. It is still the only way to relieve pressure on the health system. “With such a high number of cases, contact tracing would also be very difficult in the cantons.
Masserey: “The situation continues to be worrying”
We welcome the live ticker on today’s federal press conference. The first to speak is expert Virginie Masserey, Head of the Infection Control Section of the Federal Office of Public Health.
“The number of new infections and reported hospitalizations remains high. The situation continues to be worrying “, emphasizes the expert. “However, we are seeing an initial stabilization, if not a slight decline.”
Press conference at 2 pm
At 2:00 p.m., experts will provide information on the current situation of the coronavirus at the specialist level. You can follow the press conference live here or on television at SRF info.
Today the following professionals participate:
- Virginie Masserey, Head of the Infection Control Section, Federal Office of Public Health FOPH
- Andreas Stettbacher, Delegate of the Federal Council for the Coordinated Medical Service (KSD)
Board games and puzzles, in particular, in demand during the crown crisis
Until the end of April, the Swiss toy market was still lagging in terms of products sold. After that, sales increased significantly again. According to the market research institute GfK Switzerland, parlor games and puzzles have been in higher demand during the pandemic.
Specifically, sales in the Swiss toy market increased by 8.5 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2020. From May to September, sales were even more than a fifth higher than in the same months of the previous year. This was after a negative of around 9 percent was posted in late April 2020, as can be seen in a message on Tuesday.
Games and puzzles were particularly popular. Here the increase was almost 20 percent compared to the same period last year. Double-digit percentage growth was also recorded in the categories of building blocks, toys for toddlers (+14 percent each), vehicles (+12 percent), and outdoor and electronics (each +11 percent).
The BAG reports 4,560 new cases and 142 deaths
- The Federal Office of Public Health has noon today 4560 new cases who tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days.
- Then lies the 7-day average in 5602. These are 24 percent less than the previous week. Currently, the trend is downward.
- The BAG reports 142 new deaths.
- the Positive rate in an average of 7 days is currently included 24.5 percent. This means that out of 100 tests, an average of about 24 were positive. So far the critical threshold of 5 percent defined by WHO has been exceeded. According to the WHO, the current risk remains high that the number of reported cases does not provide a reliable picture of the spread of the virus. the The volume of tests in an average of 7 days is 25,634 tests per day and it’s over compared to the week before 14 percent diminished.
- The cantons are currently reporting 3,966 people are being treated in a hospital for Covid-19. These are the same amount as in the previous week.
Higher health spending due to the crown crisis
The corona pandemic will lead to a slight increase in healthcare spending in 2021 and 2022. The autumn forecast from the Center for Economic Research (KOF) at ETH Zurich expects an increase of 3.3 and 3.8 percent, respectively. .
The corresponding forecasts for 2019 and 2020 are 3.4 and 3.1 percent, respectively. As a result, total health spending per capita and year will rise from 9,675 francs in 2019 to 10,431 francs expected in 2022, according to the forecast published Tuesday.
The reason for the somewhat stronger acceleration in the growth rate is the “crown-related focus on security of supply,” according to the latest semi-annual report. Also, the virus and the associated economic crisis made people sick.
Keystone
