“No wave came towards us, but an omigron wall”

Currently the number of corona vulnerabilities is slowly declining, but BAG fears it should calm down before the storm. Geneva virologist Isabella Eckerley Omigron predicts a steep rising curve based on growth.

The The number of corona infections is in Switzerland It is currently declining slightly, but this country still has one of the highest incidence rates in the world – and has the same high level of alert as the rest of Europe.

“No wave came towards us, but an omigron wall”, Virologist Isabella Eckerley says “flick”. Like other countries, Switzerland has the same steep upward slope. “At our center in Geneva alone, post-testing of all positive samples increased from zero to 20 percent in one week,” said the head of the Center for Viral Diseases at the University Hospital of Geneva and the University of Geneva. . It is a rapid development.

The low vaccination rate is a cause for concern

The newspaper continues that Eckerle is also concerned about the relatively low vaccine and booster quota in Switzerland. According to Eckerle, the vaccination rate is 67 percent lower than in neighboring countries – after all, the booster dose rate is just 18 percent, still “very low”.

It seems that this third vaccine is really needed to protect against Omikron, Eckerle said. Now it should increase, “what will take,” said the virologist. Further communication restrictions should also be considered.

The Delta wave has put a lot of pressure on hospitals, and in many places patients coming from this wave are still in the hospital, Eckerley said. If there was a wave of omigran now, hospitals would “really not be able to manage it anymore,” the professor warned.