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In early March, this newspaper reported that there is a container for crown tests at the Balsthal Medical Center. How did the situation in Thal district develop during these two months, what kind of balance can be achieved?
“Solothurn canton is one of the cantons least affected by the virus. However, the container is still in place, “says Claudio Cahenzli, doctor and president of the medical center in Balsthal on request. “The tests continue to be done there so that patients with complaints do not go directly to the practice, but only when the crown test is negative,” says Cahenzli. The container should be in front of the medical center until at least the end of May, and what comes after is still being discussed with the Balsthal Health Association, the former Balsthal Samaritan Association. “Since the beginning of March, we have conducted around 230 tests on patients in the container, twelve of which tested positive for the virus,” says the chief physician.
For Cahenzli, the numbers are moderate and reflect the general situation of the crown in the canton of Solothurn. The question of why there were relatively few cases of crown in the canton of Solothurn cannot be answered exactly by the president of the medical center. “I suppose there is a difference between cities and towns, but I can’t prove that.” Another reason that speaks of the low rate of sick people is the location of the canton. “It is rather a small canton that is also far from major critical points, such as western Switzerland, Basel, Ticino or Grisons, from which we are in a privileged position.” In the case of Graubünden, more precisely in Engadine or Ticino, proximity to neighboring and previously affected Italy was an important factor for the high rate of infected people.
An exceptional death without a crown.
“The people we tested for the virus in the container came mainly from the Thal, but also from western Gäu, such as Oensingen, Kestenholz or Oberbuchsiten,” says Cahenzli. However, there are also situations where patients cannot be examined in the test container. “This is the case, for example, when we are closed on weekends or when there are serious emergencies, people reasonably go to the hospital,” says Cahenzli. However, the president of the medical center is not aware of a death directly related to coronavirus infection.
However, it does describe a specific death, which is a person who has not been examined. “We had a death in a person with severe symptoms that was not caused by the coronavirus, but did not want to make an appointment,” recalls Thaler. The seriously ill person only wanted to see the doctor after the closure, which Cahenzli regards as unfortunate collateral damage. As the cause of death, Cahenzli does not mention the consequences of the infection, but the fear of not reporting.
Otherwise, there were no other serious cases of this type. “The number of infected people in the valley has certainly decreased, we have very few suspected cases,” says Cahenzli of the current situation. So far, a maximum of three to four patients per day have been evaluated this month, compared to 10 to 15 in the past two months. “It is now important for medicine and society to learn to deal with the virus until a vaccine is developed,” says the president of the medical center.
