Experts warn Switzerland headed for '10,000 infections a day' after winding back Covid measures
In view of the planned phase-out of the current restrictions, the number of coronavirus cases could skyrocket in Switzerland, experts warn.
The Federal Council announced on Wednesday its strategy to gradually end all coronavirus restrictions before the end of the summer.
By August, all measures currently in place would be lifted, if the pandemic doesn't worsen in the meantime, authorities said.
But this plan alarmed experts at the Covid-19 Task Force, who predict that once protective measures are lifted, contaminations will sharply increase.
"With the easing, Switzerland is taking a risk", said the Task Force’s chairman Martin Ackermann.
The task force established two possible scenarios: one based on 100,000 vaccinations a day, and the other on 50,000.
In the first case, contaminations will peak at 10,000 cases a day in June, before dropping in July. The second scenario predicts from 12,000 to 15,000 infections each day.
What exactly does this mean?
To put it into context, right now over 2,300 infections are reported daily in Switzerland, which is considered a lot.
As a comparison, even in the midst of the first wave of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, the highest daily recorded numbers did not exceed 2,000 cases — however, much less testing was done in the early days, so the numbers were likely higher.
Ackermann did note that the two catastrophic scenarios drawn by the Task Force "are not exact forecasts, but rather a general trend”.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: What is Switzerland’s three-phase plan for ending Covid-19 restrictions?
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The Federal Council announced on Wednesday its strategy to gradually end all coronavirus restrictions before the end of the summer.
By August, all measures currently in place would be lifted, if the pandemic doesn't worsen in the meantime, authorities said.
But this plan alarmed experts at the Covid-19 Task Force, who predict that once protective measures are lifted, contaminations will sharply increase.
"With the easing, Switzerland is taking a risk", said the Task Force’s chairman Martin Ackermann.
The task force established two possible scenarios: one based on 100,000 vaccinations a day, and the other on 50,000.
In the first case, contaminations will peak at 10,000 cases a day in June, before dropping in July. The second scenario predicts from 12,000 to 15,000 infections each day.
What exactly does this mean?
To put it into context, right now over 2,300 infections are reported daily in Switzerland, which is considered a lot.
As a comparison, even in the midst of the first wave of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, the highest daily recorded numbers did not exceed 2,000 cases — however, much less testing was done in the early days, so the numbers were likely higher.
Ackermann did note that the two catastrophic scenarios drawn by the Task Force "are not exact forecasts, but rather a general trend”.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: What is Switzerland’s three-phase plan for ending Covid-19 restrictions?
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