Corona virus, 02.06.2020

Fewer than 10 new corona cases in a day for the first time in months

Daily new infections in Switzerland are below 10 for the first time since the end of February.

Situation on June 2020, 8 a.m. confirmed in Switzerland:

Tested positive for the new corona virus:      30,871 persons
(This is 9 more than the previous day)
Deceased persons:                                              1,657 persons

After the coronavirus numbers have been falling almost constantly over the last few days and weeks, the number of new infections has fallen below psychologically important mark of 10 per day for the first time since the end of February: There have been around 9 infections since yesterday, as the FOPH informs.  As less testing was carried out over the holidays, however the number of infections are expected to increase again over the coming days.

The fact that the daily re-infections are now so low is probably due to the extensive Corona restrictions imposed on 16 March. The infection curve for the cases reported by the FOPH clearly shows that infections continued to increase dramatically until about 10 days after the lockdown was imposed – with well over 1,000 infections per day.

Even while the tests continue to be diligently carried out, coronavirus infections in Switzerland are steadily decreasing

It was not until the end of March that the figures recovered slowly, and initially moved downwards from a high level. By the end of April, fewer than 100 cases were reported for the first time. Since then, daily new infections have been in the double-digit range – until now, on June 1, 2020.

Around 40 people in intensive care

All this despite the three easing steps decided so far by the Federal Government on 27 April and on 11 and 30 May. It was feared that the numbers would rise again after the easing , but this has not been the case so far. It also takes between 10 to 14 days to see a clear trend following a change.

A slightly delayed, but similar course can also be observed in the daily hospitalizations, which increased significantly more slowly than the infections, and began to decrease drastically about two weeks after the lockdown was imposed.

Today’s hospitalization figures range in single to double digits, depending on the rhythm at which they are collected by the FOPH. In addition to the hospitalizations, 43 people were still in intensive care on 29 May (latest figures).

FOPH and cantons with different death rates
The number of daily deaths from Covid-19 has also changed with an even clearer delay. While the first coronavirus infection was reported at the end of February, the death toll began to rise on March 8, with just over 10 days of "delay", and peaked at the beginning of April.

What is striking is that the number of deaths initially flattened out much more slowly than the hospitalization figures. This is because the development of a more serious condition, which often led to death, especially in at-risk patients, first appears several days after being admitted to the hospital.

The deaths reported by the FOPH only reflect the reality with a delay, however, as the deaths are higher than indicated by the FOPH. As of 1 June, the FOPH reported around 1,657 deaths. The individual cantons together confirm 1,920 deaths, however. The FOPH explains the delay by saying that it takes a few days for each canton to report the deaths to the Confederation.