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According to Virginie Masserey, head of the Infection Control Section at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), bed occupancy in Swiss intensive care units has stabilized. The situation remains tense.
For a week, around 530 Covid patients in Switzerland required intensive care, Masserey said Tuesday in front of the Bundeshaus media. “Hospitals are still used a lot.”
The number of cases is stable or declining. The 14-day incidence remains high, 740 per 100,000 population. “In relation to the number of cases, the number of deaths is quite low in our country compared to other countries,” Masserey said. This shows that the quality of care is very good.
Masserey stressed the importance of getting tested. “Testing plays an important role in containment strategy.” Rapid tests are also a new way to quickly find out who is infected and who is not, including from sources of infection.
“Vaccination probably during the first half of 2021”
The population of Switzerland will have to wait a while to receive a vaccine. “We will do it as soon as possible, but there will probably only be one vaccine in the first half of 2021,” said Virginie Masserey, head of the infection control section at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
The BAG constantly checks whether it is necessary to adjust the containment strategy, Masserey told the Bundeshaus media on Tuesday. This also includes the length of the quarantine or the introduction of massive tests, as is sometimes practiced abroad.
“Case numbers are halved every two weeks”
Martin Ackermann, chairman of the federal scientific working group Covid, sees Switzerland on the right track to contain the coronavirus. At the moment, the number of cases has been cut in half every two weeks.
“The objective of the first stage has been reached,” Ackermann told the Bundeshaus media on Tuesday. It’s great how many people contribute. If development continues like this, much will be achieved: “We have more air, contact tracing capabilities, in hospitals, but also for companies are greater.”
French-speaking Switzerland currently has the fewest views. Ackermann explains it with the strict measures that have been in place for weeks in the French-speaking cantons.
Measures against the coronavirus are being observed less
Canton’s doctors point out that discipline in compliance with crown measures is waning. They warn of a new increase in cases.
“In general, we believe that awareness of unconditional compliance with the measures should be increased.” This was said by Rudolf Hauri, cantonal doctor of Zug and president of the Cantonal Doctors Association on Tuesday in front of the federal media.
Contact tracing in the cantons is running smoothly again. “If there is an increase again to such a high level, contact tracing and the health system will reach the limit,” Hauri warned. “Thanks to contact tracing we know that there are good protection concepts in many companies, but that workers are infected during breaks or lunch.”
Too little evidence for a high positivity rate
Furthermore, very little is tested. The still high positivity rate allows one to conclude that, by far, not all cases are discovered. Testing is necessary, even if you have to go into quarantine.
Keeping a physical distance, self-quarantining, and not auditioning are important vacation measures. “If you have symptoms, skip Christmas.”
In relation to the expected vaccine, the cantons are solving specific questions about logistics, delivery and distribution of the vaccine.
