High number of unreported Covid cases

The corona virus has returned. Former Corona Task Force head Tanja Stadler belives that the next wave will not stretch the hospitals to the limit. But she does think that additional protective measures are needed.

The corona virus doesn't care about the heat wave. Although half of Switzerland is looking for refreshment in cool water, the Omicron variant continues to spread unabated. Last week, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported almost 17,000 new infections within a week. According to Tanja Stadler, however, this is probably just the beginning. "We assume that around 15% of the population, i.e. more than one million people, will become infected in this wave," said the former Corona Task Force president on Monday in an interview with the "Blick" newspaper.

Because many people are no longer being tested, the number of confirmed cases is likely to be much lower than the actual number of infections. Based on the wastewater samples, Stadler assumes that there are already more than 80,000 infections per week. Nevertheless, Switzerland is in a good starting position – at least as far as the situation in the intensive care units is concerned. Stadler does not expect the hospitals to become overloaded.

Former Task Force President Tanja Stadler recommends continuing to wear a mask in certain situations. archive photo

The major factors are masks and clean air indoors
Against this background, it was plausible for the Federal Council (Bundesrat) to lift the restrictive measures, says the Professor of Computer-Aided Evolution at the ETH Zurich. Nevertheless, she advocates certain protective measures to prevent long-Covid cases as far as possible. and to prevent parts of the infrastructure from failing as a result of illness-related absences.

Stadler has a clear opinion on the possible measures: "The important factors here are masks and clean indoor air." She continues to wear a mask on public transport and in health facilities. Because everyone should be aware: even a triple vaccination only protects conditionally against an infection. On the other hand, Tanja Stadler considers the reintroduction of the certificates to be pointless.