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Geneva hospitals call for volunteers as Covid-19 virus surges

Geneva hospitals on Sunday issued a call for medically trained volunteers and recently retired staff to help tackle a record number of Coronavirus patients anticipated in the coming days.

Published: 25 October 2020 16:42 CET
Updated: 25 October 2020 18:04 CET
Geneva hospitals call for volunteers as Covid-19 virus surges
HUG needs volunteers to handle Covid-19 patients. Photo by AFP

Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) said the number of coronavirus patients was expected to be “far higher” than at the peak of the pandemic's first wave in March.

Switzerland's second-biggest city is home to many international institutions including the United Nations.

According to the latest figures released Friday by the Swiss health ministry, 5,057 new cases of the respiratory disease were registered in Geneva over the previous 14 days — an incidence of 1,012.5 per 100,000 people.

Cases, hospitalisations and deaths in Switzerland have doubled from one week to the next throughout October.

The government is expected to decide Wednesday on new measures to control the spread of the virus. 

 “Faced with the rapid and continuous increase in the number of hospitalisations of Covid-19-positive patients, HUG are looking for voluntary medical, nursing and administrative staff to strengthen and relieve their teams,” the group said in a statement.

They are also calling on recently retired employees or those on unpaid leave to come forward.

 “It is highly likely that the peak of 550 hospitalised Covid-positive patients that we recorded during the first wave will be greatly exceeded in the coming days,” said HUG director-general Bertrand Levrat.

 “We anticipate that the number of beds and professionals needed to treat Covid and non-Covid patients will be far higher than what we experienced this spring.”

 There are currently 296 coronavirus patients in Geneva hospitals — almost treble the number 10 days ago.

 In March, during the first wave of infections, Switzerland was not hit as hard by Covid-19 deaths and did not impose as strict a lockdown as some other European states.

From nearly no new cases at the beginning of June, infections rose slowly but steadily before rocketing in October.

On Friday, 6,592 new cases were announced in the daily Swiss update, taking the total throughout the pandemic over the 100,000 mark to 103,323.

 Switzerland — population 8.5 million — has so far recorded 1,876 deaths from the coronavirus.

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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