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COVID-19

Switzerland ‘three weeks behind Austria’ as hospitals warn of triage

The Swiss government on Tuesday warned the country was “three weeks behind Austria”, amid steep rises in Covid cases and a dramatic surge in hospital admissions.

Published: 23 November 2021 19:36 CET
An ambulance approaches Geneva University Hospital. Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
Experts have warned Switzerland's hospitals may soon be overloaded. Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, several Swiss experts warned that Switzerland was on course to reach Covid infection rates similar to those of neighbouring Austria in three weeks time. 

Switzerland’s Covid Taskforce chief Tanja Stadler warned “Switzerland is three weeks behind Austria”, pointing to current trends in case numbers and hospitalisations. 

On Monday, November 22nd, Austria shuttered bars and restaurants, while announcing that the Covid vaccine will become compulsory in February next year. 

READ MORE: Will Switzerland make the Covid vaccine compulsory?

The Taskforce said the number of people in hospital with Covid was increasing by 40 percent each week and will reach Austria-style capacities in mid-December, with surgeries cancelled and hospitals needing to make triage decisions about who to treat in intensive care. 

Some central Swiss cantons have already started putting plans in place to move patients due to capacity issues, while in Lucerne hospitals have been cancelling elective surgery appointments. 

“Elective interventions have already had to be postponed in order to be able to care for the people in the intensive care unit,” Lucerne health director Guido Graf told Blick. 

“We have to prepare for a new wave,” cantonal doctor Aglaé Tardin told the press conference. 

Federal Office of Public Health crisis management boss Patrick Mathys said “the situation is classified as critical.” 

New measures on the horizon? 

As recently on Thursday, Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset ruled out tightening the existing Covid measures at a federal level. 

At the press conference, Mathys said the government’s newly approved booster campaign would help lighten the load on hospitals. 

READ MORE: Switzerland approves Covid-19 boosters for everyone over 16

Mathys did however call upon the cantons to put in place measures to stop the spread of the virus. 

As it stands, cantons with lower vaccination rates are being hit harder than those where more people are vaccinated. 

Mathys highlighted that the infection rate is six times higher in Nidwalden than in Ticino. 

More than 70 percent of people in Ticino have received at least one shot of the vaccine, while Nidwalden’s corresponding rate of 65.8 is lower than the national average. 

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COVID-19

What does the increase in the number of Covid cases in Switzerland mean?

Coronavirus infections are on the rise again, with Swiss health officials and epidemiologists expressing concern over the possible evolution of the disease.

Published: 15 November 2023 15:32 CET
What does the increase in the number of Covid cases in Switzerland mean?

While the worst of the Covid pandemic is long over, and experts don’t expect it to re-emerge with the same strength and health consequences as it had in 2020, new cases have been reported in the past weeks.

Wastewater analysis, one of the means employed by health officials to measure the presence of coronavirus, indicates a viral load that is at least five times higher than usual, with values “now almost as high as in some previous Omicron-related waves,” Christoph Ort, spokesperson for Eawag Institute, which traces Covid viruses in 14 wastewater treatment plants in Switzerland, told the media.

What does this mean?

According to Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the most common sub-variant in Switzerland right now is the highly transmissible XBB, also known as ‘Kraken.’

The Eris and Pirola variants, which circulated in the summer and early fall are also still present.

While none is nearly as dangerous (at least for most people) as the early Alpha and Delta viruses, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the early stages of the pandemic, there is a reason for concern nevertheless.

“It’s a start of a small wave,” said Rudolf Hauri, head of the Cantonal Doctors’ Association.

“More people are being admitted to hospitals again with, or because of, coronavirus. There are also new cases in intensive care units, but these are generally people with a medical history.”

Should you be worried?
 
While the number of people with serious Covid-related complications is not expected to be as high as previously, the rise in the number of infections should not be trivialised either, infectious disease specialists say.
 
This is especially important for people in the high-risk category — those over 65 or suffering from chronic illnesses — who can get quite sick if infected with the new variants, according to FOPH.
 
This is all the more important as the flu season is about to begin in Switzerland as well, and the confluence of both illnesses, plus other respiratory viruses that typically circulate during the winter, can be very risky.
 
What can you do to protect yourself?
 
Other than adopting the same protective measures as those during the pandemic — that is, washing hands, avoiding close contacts and crowded spaces, and wearing masks where needed — health officials also recommend top-up shots, for both Covid and flu.

READ ALSO: Who should get top-up Covid and flu jabs in Switzerland?

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