The Corona situation remains tense

The number of daily corona infections has stabilised at a high level in recent days, and the Zug Contact-Tracing has also been able to catch up in the meantime. The situation remains tense, however.

The number of new infections with Covid-19 In the canton of Zug has stabilised at a high level. "But it is still too early to start feeling confident" warned the Zug Health Director Martin Pfister at a press conference on Wednesday, 11 November. The cantonal health directorate had convened the conference to discuss the current situation with regard to the corona pandemic. According to cantonal physician Rudolf Hauri, the 7-day incidence – i.e. the number of infections during the past seven days – is around 320 -  a slight downward trend. Compared to the other cantons, Zug is in the bottom third.

According to Rudolf Hauri, contact tracing, in which the canton of Zug also had problems, is now back on a solid footing. "Most of the backlogs have been made up, so we will have an overview again in about a week." This overview had been temporarily lost. "We could no longer reconstruct a large part of the contagion chain," says the cantonal doctor. In the meantime, however, it has become clear that the current cases are several clusters, i.e. accumulations.

Digital support for contact tracing has been dispensed with so far
The Backward Tracing, which detects such clusters and interrupts chains of infection at the starting point of the infection, can now be resumed. Digital aids are not yet in use. "On the one hand, there are problems with data protection in this regard. On the other hand, we can also keep an overview manually in the canton of Zug, with a few dozen cases per day," says Hauri. Nevertheless, they are in talks with appropriate providers.

Jonas Zollinger, Director of the Hirslanden Andreas Klinik, Matthias Winistörfer, director of The Zug Cantonal Hospital, health director Martin Pfister, and Cantonal Doctor Rudolf Hauri (from left to right).

Rudolf Hauri urges that you should have ourself tested urgently and quickly if you have symptoms. The rapid tests, with which initial experience has now been gained, are currently helping with this. According to the hospital directors, the result of these tests is available after about two hours, whereas the conventional test currently takes up to 24 hours.

Rapid testing minimises the risk of severe cases
Matthias Winistörfer, hospital director of the Zug Cantonal Hospital, adds that it is not only important to have the test tested as quickly as possible in order to break the chain of infection: "If you already know that you have Covid-19, we can treat much faster if the condition deteriorates – which in turn can usually prevent a worse course of the infection." Winistörfer also stresses that the two hospitals still have sufficient capacity, and appeals to people suffering from diseases other than Covid-19 not to postpone going to the hospital or to the doctor. "All patients can come at any time."

Prospects for sports camps in winter still uncertain
When asked about the future and a possible third wave, cantonal doctor Rudolf Hauri says that the focus is on the sports holidays. As he confirms, there were several Corona clusters after camps during the autumn holidays. "Basically, it is still possible to carry out sports camps at the moment – but whether this makes sense with the current measures is questionable." In addition, there is no certainty that camps may be carried out at all by the time the sports holidays arrive.

Finally, Health Director Martin Pfister emphasizes that everyone can help: "We are on the right track. We must not let up”. In order to draw attention to the rules once again, the Canton of Zug has launched a poster campaign together with the Canton of Lucerne. With the slogan "Corona can turn your whole life upside down – stay cautious now!" (Corona kann Dein ganzes Leben auf den Kopf stellen – jetzt vorsichtig bleiben!), the population is reminded of the three basic rules: keep distance, wear a mask and wash your hands. "If people in Zug continue to follow these rules well, we hope to be able to dispense with further restrictions," says Pfister.

New virus strain behaving differently than in spring
According to the Zug cantonal physician Rudolf Hauri, the virus that is now circulating in Switzerland is no longer the original Wuhan virus, but a different strain. This is not more aggressive, but spreads faster. Both the shape and the rate of rise of the contagion curve is therefore developing differently than in spring. A change in the virus was to be expected, and, in most cases, the new strains are thereby milder, but easier to transmit.